A Study of Youth Martial Arts Athletes' Engagement Motivations and Their Health Related Behaviors

Aim. Scientific studies concerning youth martial-arts athletes (YMAs) have become increasingly broader and deeper since the first Youth Olympic Summer-Games in 2010. 'Ibis paper aims at examining the engagement motivations (EMs) that motivated the YMAs who engaged in martial-arts practices and competitions and their health-related behaviors. Method. Participants were 163 YMAs (Ages =12-18; 84 boys, 79 girls; 71 American, 92 Chinese). Data collection was done by employing Adapted Youth Martial-arts Athlete' Motivations and Health-Relate Behaviors Questionnaire (AYMAMHRBQ). The AYMAMHRBQ contained 19 questions examining participants' EMs, 27 questions investigating health-relate behaviors. Data analyses included a 2 Gender (boy, girl) x 2 Ages (younger, older) x 2 Skill-levels (high, medium) x 2 Countries (PRC, USA) MANOVA, and other suitable methods. Results. The top three mean-scores among the 19 EMs were: "Precious value" "Improving health" "Having fun". The 'Skill-levels' did not have significant differences but 'Gender' 'Ages' and 'Countries' had. The follow-up MANOVA discovered that: boys scored higher in five EMs than girls, but girls scored higher in one EM than boys. "Older-age" scored significantly higher in 'To establish prestige' than "Younger-age"; but "Younger-age" scored significantly higher than "Older-age" in 'To develop unique skills'. Eleven out of 19 comparisons reached significant differences in 'Countries' aspect. Precious features about these YMAs' health-relate behaviors were found and discussed. Conclusion. When examining the YMAs' EMs, Skill-levels' factor was not a determinate aspect while 'Gender' 'Ages' and 'Countries' aspects were. Those features of the YMAs' health-relate behaviors possess important meanings for improving YMAs' coaching and management.