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The adolescent transition is characterized by heightened social pressure to conform to gender expectations from peers and increased female sports attrition. However, few studies examine how gender shapes physical activity participation in peer contexts. Through qualitative life-history interviews with high school basketball players, this study explores female sports participation and attrition throughout adolescence. To what extent do pre- and post-pubertal sporting experiences differ for girls? Results indicate that before and after puberty, girls' peer statuses and gender statuses are conflated. Female popularity (peer status) often contradicted (high status) basketball player. At both time points, girls had to renegotiate a tension between popularity (peer status) and athleticism. However, a postpubertal failure to emphasize femininity and/or downplay skills led peers to question girls' heterosexuality. Therefore, homophobia may be complicit in female sports attrition. Modifiable social processes in peer contexts are identified for post—Title IX gender equity education.

For centuries, the have and have nots have been distant from one another both socially and spatially. This is also how privilege shaped the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is a substantial theoretical literature arguing that African American families, more than other ethnic groups, push their children towards sports. However, there is a dearth of generalizable empirical research examining whether African American families do in fact encourage their children to participate in sport more than families of other ethnic groups do, or whether families encourage their youth more than non-kin, such as teachers, coaches and peers. Using a nationally representative US sample of 2185 third- through twelfth-graders, this study compares African American youths' perceptions of encouragement for sports participation relative to other groups. Results indicate that relative to White, Hispanic and Asian youth, African American youth are more likely to receive encouragement for sports participation from all sources (total encouragement scores). While African Americans are also more likely to obtain encouragement from family members and non-kin than other ethnic groups are, African Americans receive equal amounts of encouragement from family and non-kin sources. The results of this study suggest that both African Americans and the larger community emphasize sport more for African American youth than for other youth.

Despite increased structural opportunities through Title IX, adolescent females in the US continue to participate in physical activity less than males. This persistent pattern suggests gender stereotypes might subtly groom girls' and boys' choices about health behaviors. Although communication can shape gender stereotypes, the majority of physical activity studies employ social influence frameworks (i.e. social learning theory) that ignore this important dimension of influence. Because the family is a primary socializing agent where gender roles are learned, the current qualitative interview study of high school basketball players illustrates: (1) how communication within the family context prompts learning about parental role models in sport; (2) how adolescents talk about maternal and paternal sports participation. This research suggests that communication is an important modifiable social process for physical activity interventions that include a family influence component.