Motivation through Sports Related Physical Activity and Alcohol Consumption

Objective and Methodology: Alcohol consumption and abuse is part of government’s health agendas; it is a causal factor of over 200 diseases and injuries, and is estimated that each year 320,000 deaths worldwide occur in teenagers because due to it. Sports related physical activities may be a protective factor in alcohol consumption, and could be related to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Objective: To identify the type of alcohol consumption by sex, and to identify the relationship of the days and minutes of motivation through sports related physical activities and alcohol consumption. The study was descriptive and correlational. The population was composed of 4,719 adolescents from two high schools in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The sample size was calculated by considering a contrast between a null hypothesis of no correlation with a significance level of .05 and of .90 power, with a non-response rate of 10% and a design effect of 1.15, considering a sample of 415 adolescents The sampling was random and stratified with a proportional assignation stratum size. The instruments utilized were: Motives for Physical Activity Measure-Rivesed (MPAM-R) of Ryan, et al.,(1997) and AUDIT The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Babor et al., 2001).

 Results: the type of alcohol consumption by sex showed that a significant difference (X² = 16.1, p < .001) was higher in the sensible consumption of alcohol in girls than in boys, and that the dependent and harmful consumption of alcohol was higher in boys than in girls.  The days (r_s = .253, p < .001) and minutes (r_s = .270, p < .001) dedicated to sports related physical activities correlated positively and significantly with the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for sports related physical activities. They also correlated positively and significantly with days ( r_s = .254 , p < .001 ) and minutes (r_s = .253 , p < .001 ) dedicated to sports related physical activities and  alcohol consumption ( AUDIT) . Conclusions: The days and minutes used for sports related physical activities are related to motivation for sports related physical activities and alcohol consumption.