An Examination of Leisure Skills in Athletes According to Different Variables

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine leisure skills in athletes according to different variables.

Methods: Designed in accordance with the descriptive survey model, this study included 138 athletes engaged in different sports branches in the province of Diyarbakır. A personal information form was used to obtain descriptive characteristics of the athletes. The Leisure Skills Scale was employed to determine athletes’ leisure skills. Independent samples t-tests were used for two-group comparisons, while one-way ANOVA was applied for comparisons involving more than two groups. In addition, the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable was examined through linear regression analysis. Statistical analysis results were interpreted within a 95% confidence interval.

Results: No statistically significant differences were found in leisure skills according to athletes’ gender, age, income level, educational status, or sports experience (p>0.05). However, daily leisure time was found to be a positive and significant predictor of leisure skills. The regression model explained 33.5% of the total variance in leisure skills. The calculated effect size (f² ≈ 0.50) indicated a large effect, and the post-hoc power analysis demonstrated that the model had a very high level of statistical power.

Conclusion: Based on the findings, it was concluded that characteristics such as gender, age, income level, educational status, and sports experience are not determining factors in athletes’ leisure skills. On the other hand, daily leisure time emerged as a strong determinant of athletes’ leisure skills.