Outdoor recreation participation across the lifespan: abandonment, continuity, or liberation?

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which outdoor recreation participation changes across the lifespan. Age differences and age changes in leisure involvement were examined within the framework of abandonment, liberation, and continuity. Personal interview data were gathered as part of the 1982-1983 Nationwide Recreation Survey (NRS). The NRS was conducted on a sample of individuals (N = 6720) twelve years of age or older in the non-institutionalized United States population. The data indicated that neither the abandonment nor liberation perspective are accurate reflections of what happens with increasing age. In fact, there appears to be as much variation within age groups as across those groups. If any one pattern does occur more often than the other, it is continuity. There does, however, appear to be a perception of future abandonment among the oldest group of respondents. The findings of this study indicate variables other than age may account for expansion, contraction, and continuity across the lifespan.