Soccer team students' athlete engagement is mainly driven by their own athlete participation, while non-soccer team students are more strongly influenced by the role-modeling of soccer team students than by their own participation.
Key Findings
Results
Soccer team students exhibited a strong actor effect on their own athlete engagement, meaning their own participation strongly predicted their own engagement.
The actor effect for soccer team students was β = 0.824, p < 0.001.
This was classified as an 'actor-only pattern' in dyadic pattern analysis.
Soccer team students did not show a significant partner effect on non-soccer team students' engagement (β = -0.005, p > 0.05).
The study used the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) with latent variables to examine these effects.
Results
Non-soccer team students showed a significant but small actor effect of their own participation on their athlete engagement.
The actor effect for non-soccer team students was β = 0.045, p < 0.05.
The effect size was described as 'small' by the authors.
Non-soccer team students were classified as exhibiting a 'mixed actor-partner pattern' in dyadic pattern analysis.
This contrasts sharply with the much larger actor effect seen in soccer team students (β = 0.824).
Results
Non-soccer team students' athlete engagement was more strongly influenced by the participation of soccer team students (partner effect) than by their own participation (actor effect).
The partner effect for non-soccer team students was β = 0.518, p < 0.001.
The partner effect (β = 0.518) was stronger than the actor effect (β = 0.045) for non-soccer team students.
This partner effect is interpreted as reflecting role-modeling influence from soccer team students.
The authors note this highlights 'the value of strengthening campus soccer teams to mobilize non-soccer team students' sustained engagement in physical activity.'
Methods
The study recruited 4,140 students from 167 soccer-featured schools in China, paired as matched dyads of soccer team and non-soccer team students.
The sample comprised 2,070 soccer team students and 2,070 non-soccer team students.
Students were recruited from 167 soccer-featured schools in China.
Participants completed the Athlete Participation Scale (APS) and the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire (AEQ).
Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) with latent variables.
Results
The dyadic pattern analysis revealed different engagement patterns between the two student groups, with soccer team students showing an actor-only pattern and non-soccer team students showing a mixed actor-partner pattern.
Soccer team students were classified as 'actor-only pattern,' indicating their engagement is primarily self-driven.
Non-soccer team students were classified as 'mixed actor-partner pattern,' indicating influence from both their own participation and that of soccer team peers.
The pattern classification was derived from the APIM dyadic analysis framework.
The authors interpret these distinct patterns as indicating that 'athlete participation influences adolescent athlete engagement differently across student groups.'
What This Means
This research suggests that in schools with dedicated soccer programs, students who are on the soccer team are primarily driven by their own involvement in sport when it comes to staying engaged in athletic activities. Their engagement is largely self-sustaining and not significantly shaped by the behavior of their non-team peers. In contrast, students who are not on the soccer team show only a weak connection between their own sports participation and their engagement — but they are strongly influenced by watching and interacting with soccer team members, a phenomenon the researchers interpret as role-modeling.
The study examined over 4,000 students across 167 soccer-featured schools in China, using a statistical approach called the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to measure how one person's behavior influences both their own outcomes and the outcomes of a paired partner. The key finding is that the 'partner effect' — the influence of soccer team students on non-team students — was much larger (β = 0.518) than non-team students' own self-driven participation effect (β = 0.045), suggesting that social influence from engaged peers plays a larger role than personal initiative for this group.
This research suggests that investing in school soccer teams may have benefits beyond the team members themselves. By creating visible, engaged athlete role models on campus, schools may be able to motivate broader student populations to sustain their participation in physical activity — an important public health goal given rising rates of physical inactivity among adolescents globally.
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Wang H, Huang H, Zhong C, Shui Y. (2026). How soccer team students shape adolescent athlete engagement: evidence from an actor-partner interdependence model.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1904710