The Effects of Parental Involvement in Youth Sports

The Effects of Parental Involvement in Youth Sports

Bibliographic Essay
Aralyn Paige Williams
Ottawa University

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Abstract
This is a bibliographic essay structured to guide research over the effects that parents have on
youth sports. This essay examines the positive and negative effect parents can have on youth
sports. When gathering sources, the object was to answer the research question what effects do
parents have on youth sports? The sources presented in this paper are for a researcher who is
looking to compare and contrast the different kinds of parental involvement, such as parental
support versus parental pressure. This research paper could also benefit anyone who is wanting
to be a coach, because it is about the psychology of how youth react to the support and pressure
coming from their parents. This bibliographic essay is divided into three main topics: the parents
behaviors, the athletes physical and emotional response, and the positive and negative effects.
Each topic will contain a brief discussion and a number of related sources. The sources will be
summarized with an evaluation and then sorted into which topic it best fits. Some, if not most, of
these sources cover more than one of these topics in them. The first topic helps the researcher to
have a better understanding as to why parents behave the way they do at youth sports. The
second topic helps the researcher understand why young athletes react and perform the way they
do. And, the third topic is to explain what the positive and negative effects are of parental
involvement in youth sports. By separating the paper into these three topics, it helps to categorize
the sources and add organization to the paper.

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The Effects of Parental Involvement in Youth Sports
A Bibliographic Essay
Introduction
Parents play a very vital role in a childs life, whether they realize it or not. One area in a
childs life where parental involvement is more evident is in youth sports. Parent involvement
can be defined as many different things, such as parental support or parental pressure. In both
situations the parents are actively involved in the childs sports, but they can either cause positive
outcomes or negative outcomes. Each young athlete is different in the way they will respond in
each circumstance. This is where we must get to know the athlete and know what kind parental
involvement they need to succeed.
Parental Behaviors
As stated above, a parents behavior towards a child while playing their sport or before
and after the activity or game can have different affects on a child. There are several different
ways parents tend to behave when it comes to youth sports. They could be living vicariously
through their child, they can be supportive, they can be demanding, they can be belittling, or any
other parental behaviors found in the stands at a youth sporting game. The following sources
listed below help to provide more information as to why parents act the way they do at youth
sporting events. A few of the articles talk about what it takes to be a good parent versus a
bad parent. They also discuss the different ways parents can act at the sporting events and how
it can affect the child. As I have said before, parental behaviors, good or bad, can effect a childs
sport experience on whether it was enjoyable or not. They may also work as references for the
other subject areas as well, but they are most helpful in this section.

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Blom, L. C., & Drane, D. (2008). Parents sideline comments: Exploring the reality of a
growing issue. http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol10Iss3/ParentsComments.htm

The authors of this article are Lindsey C. Blom and Dan Drane. Blom has her Ed.D. and works
for the School of Human Performance and Recreation at the University of Southern University.
Drane has his Ph.D. and also works for the School of Human Performance and Recreation at the
University of Southern University. They are both an authority in this subject. They also reference
several different articles and sources in their own work, which is why this article is a good source
for not only this essay, but also any other work on this subject. This article is from 2008, making
it fairly recent, which is good because that means the research and data is still considered current.
In this article analyzes parents comments toward their young athletes from the spectator
position. They then, ran some data to find that 31% of the comments were considered positive
and 28% of the comments were considered negative.

Jodl, K. M., Michael, A., Malanchuk, O., Eccles, J. S., & Sameroff, A. (2001). Parents
roles in shaping early adolescents occupational aspirations. Child Development, 72(4),
1247-1265.

There are several authors for this article, and all their names are highlighted blue, meaning they
have other works in the database. The first is Kathleen M. Jodl, she has five other works in this
database. The second author is Alice Michael, and she has one other article published in this
database other than this one. The third is Oksana Malanchuk, who has five different articles
published in this Psychology database. The fourth author is Jacquelynne S. Eccles. This article is
only one of the forty-three articles Eccles has published in this database, which I believe makes
them an authority. The fifth author is Arnold Sameroff. Sameroff has nine of his own works

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published in this database. The primary audience for this article are parents of young athletes and
students. This article is talking about how parental involvement can effect a students work, but
eventually a parent becomes less involved (helping with homework, etc.) with their childs
school as they get older. They also talk about how it is easier to have parental involvement when
it comes to sports, because parents are needed to supply the equipment, transportation, and etc.

Lauer, L. (2015). Keeping perspective in youth sport.

http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/resource-center/resources-for-parents/keepingperspective-in-youth-sport/

The author, Larry Lauer, has his PhD and is at the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at
Michigan State University. So, I would say that he has the experience and the credentials to be an
authority on this subject. There is not a reference page or any sources cited in text. I do not know
how many times this sources has been cited or the effects it has had on other scholarly work, but
I do believe it could be a good source for future papers being written over this topic. The primary
audience of the source is parents of young athletes. This article talks about how parents are seen
as on obstacle whenever looking at a young athlete, versus being seen as a support group. If
parents are trying to be supportive, they should be sure to do the same thing after a loss as they
would after a win. Otherwise, the young athlete may feel pressure to win if parents treat them
one way after a win, but treat them differently after a loss. Stay consistent, and do not give in to
the unhealthy perspective of sports and parenting.

Perconte, J. (2009). Raising an Athlete: How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and
Inspire a Love of Sport. Lisle, Il: Second Base.

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The author, Jack Perconte, is a former Major-Leaguer, who has now been coaching young
athletes for the past twenty-one years. He has also written a book previous to this one called, The
Making of a Hitter. I would say he has credentials as an athlete, coach, and parent, but he does
not have a degree in sport psychology or anything to make him a major authority. This book is
written on the experiences Jack Perconte had as an athlete, a coach, and as a father of three
young athletes. The primary audience for this source is the parents of young athletes. The
information provided by this source is experiences of being a young athlete, coaching the young
athlete, and being a parent of a young athlete. This book also shares insight on how to help
young athletes become the best athlete and best person they can be all around. It also talks about
both the negative and positive affects parents can have on their young athlete. This book was
published in 2009, which is fairly recent. This book has helped give the perspective of an athlete,
a coach, and a parent, who are all trying to give the athlete the best experience possible without
over doing it.

Peter, N. E. (2011). Confessions of a baseball mom: The impact of youth sports on

parents feelings and behaviors. New Directions for Youth Development, 123-171.
doi:10.1002/yd.422

The author of this article is Nancy E. Peter, her name was highlighted blue so I clicked on it to
see, but this was her only work listed. There was not a bio in the article, so I googled her and all I
found were Facebook profiles and this article, but no more information about her. The main
audience for this article is most likely parents whose child plays youth sports. Peter based her
research, for this article, off of four questions: (1) How do parents feel about their children's
participation in organized youth team sports? (2) Which situations trigger which feelings? (3)
How do parents' feelings influence their behaviors? (4) What parental characteristics (such as

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personal histories or demographics) are linked to different feelings and behaviors? By having
parents answer these questions, she can start to understand the emotional investment and
behavioral responses, of parents, to youth sports.

Trussell, D. E., & Shaw, S. M. (2012). Organized youth sport and parenting in public
spaces. Leisure Sciences, 34(5), 377-394. doi:10.1080/01490400.2012.714699

The authors Dawn E. Trussell and Susan M. Shaw are both in the Department of Recreation and
Leisure Studies at their respected universities. Trussell is at the Brock University in Canada, and
Shaw is at University of Waterloo in Canada. Since they are doing research in the department in
which they work in, I would say they have a little bit of authority on the subject. The primary
audience for this source is parents of young athletes, because it discusses parenting ideologies
that come along with youth sports. This article explores the connections between contemporary
parenting, cultural beliefs and values to youth sports. I detect a bias of what a good parent
consists of and what to become one in both public and private spaces, for example, when it
discusses involved fathering and intensive mothering. This article is only from 2012, so it is three
years old. It is important that this article is fairly recent, because it talks about the contemporary
parenting ideologies. So, I need to know that when it says contemporary, it means in the last few
years.

The Athletes Physical and Emotional Response

The three sources listed below provide information on how young athletes respond to the
emphasis that their parents put on youth sports, whether it be parental support or parental
pressure. Each athlete is going to respond differently to each situation, they may respond in a

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positive way and perform well or in a negative way and their performance suffers. Not only do
these article explore the responses of the young athletes, but also the reasoning behind their
motivation to compete in their respected sports. This is where coaches and parents must take the
time to get to know their athlete to know the most effective way to motivate them and be
involved in their activities.

McArdle, S., & Duda, J. L. (2008). Exploring the etiology of perfectionism and
perceptions of self-worth in young athletes. Social Development, 17(4), 980-997.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00456.x.

Both of the authors for this article have blue names in the database, meaning we can see what
other works have been done by them. The first author, Siobhain McArdle of Dublin City
University, has five other works listed under their name. They all are about exploring
perfectionism and mental health. The second author is Joan Duda, from the University of
Birmingham, she has fifteen other articles listed under her name, all of which are within the same
relative topic. I do believe that these two authors have authority on the subject at hand, because
they both have five or more works published under their names. The primary audience for this
article is anyone who is interested in the etiology, the cause or origin, of perfectionism and
perceptions of self-worth in young athletes. This article compares parental criticism and parental
expectations to see how they each have an effect on young athletes self-worth and perfectionistic
tendencies.

McArdle, S., & Duda, J. L. (2004). Exploring social-contextual correlates of

perfectionism in adolescents: A multivariate perspective. Cognitive Therapy & Research,
28(6), 765-788. doi:10.1007/s10608-004-0665-4

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Both of the authors for this article have blue names in the database, meaning we can see what
other works have been done by them. The first author, Siobhain McArdle of Dublin City
University, has five other works listed under their name. They all are about exploring
perfectionism and mental health. The second author is Joan Duda, from the University of
Birmingham, she has fifteen other articles listed under her name, all of which are within the same
relative topic. I do believe that these two authors have authority on the subject at hand, because
they both have five or more works published under their names. The primary audience for this
article would be people interested in perfectionism in adolescents and social-contextual
correlations, which are most likely the parents of adolescents. This article explores a study done
on young athletes to, first, see if they could identify social-contextual influences in their home,
and secondly, to see if the youths perceptions on their parental environment varies their
perfectionistic tendencies and motivation tendencies.

Walker, H. J. (1993). Youth sports: Parental concerns. Physical Educator, 50(2), 104-113.

The author of this article is Hal J. Walker, there is not any information listed about him in the
article, so I clicked on his name, which was blue, but this article is the only thing that popped up
in the database. After I checked the database I googled him, and all I found were books I could
buy. I was not able to find any information on him. The audience of this article could be anyone
who wants to know what the parental concerns are with youth sports. This article talks about how
children tend to play sports to seek approval from their parents, but it also talks about how some
kids believe that their relationship with one or both parents depends on their sport involvement.

The Positive and Negative Effects

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This section of sources grows off of the response section, now we are dealing with the
positive and negative effects the athletes can have in response to their parents involvement. An
example of a positive effect would be the athlete talking the parental pressure or parental support
and using that as motivation to perform well. An example of a negative effect is the parental
pressure or parental support causing the athletes performance to suffer. These articles help to
point out to the audience just how much a parent can affect their childs youth sport experience
and make them think twice about how they react to certain situations.

The importance of parental involvement in youth sports (2014, May 12).

http://educatedsportsparent.com/importance-parental-involvement-youth-sports/

I could not find the author of this article or the website, I even searched the web page and could
not find anything. Although I could not find the author, there is a reference page consisting of
four sources. Since I do not know who the author is, I do not know if they are an authority in this
subject. The references that they used are good sources, so I would say that this website is
credible. This article talks about the roles parents play in youth sports and the importance of their
involvement. It then goes on to talk about the positive, supportive parental involvement versus
when the parental involvement begins to cause stress for the young athlete.

Hoyle, R. H. & Leff, S. S. (1997). The Role of Parental Involvement in Youth Sport
Participation and Performance. Adolescence, 32, 233-43.

The authors do not have a bio listed, but both of their names are blue in the database, which
means you can click on them and find more work done by them. The first author listed is Rick H.
Hoyle, he has nineteen other works listed under his name. The second author, Stephan S. Leff,
has eleven other works listed under his name, most of them being for the School Psychology

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Review. With that being said, I would say that these authors have credibility and authority. This
article is a study examining the association of parental involvement with both parental support
and pressure with enjoyment, confidence, and performance of young tennis players. Both
parental support and pressure have positive and negative outcomes. The primary audience for
source is anyone doing research over parental involvement in sports or just parents of young
athletes.

Quinton, M. (2013). The influence of parents in youth sport.

http://believeperform.com/coaching/the-influence-of-parents-in-youth-sport/

Mary Quinton, the author of this article, is a student of the School of Sport, Exercise, and
Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She is in her final year of her PhD in
Sport and Exercise Psychology. Since she is in her final year of school, I would have to say she
probably hasnt had much experience in this field and she hasnt earned any credentials yet. The
primary audience for this source is parents of young athletes. This article talks about the
influences parents can have on their children and how it affects their sport. It also touches on
how involved is too involved for parents when it comes to youth sports. Quinton then lists a few
dos and donts of parental involvement. This article also discusses the effects of specialization at
a young age. I believe this source is a bit bias to the parents who get involved but not too
involved. This article is two years old, which makes it more recent. With this article being two
years old, it helps give a perspective on parenting styles that is more up to date.

Conclusion

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This essay provided twelve sources that are highly recommended for the use of writing a
paper over the effects of parental involvement in youth sports. This research was done to be able
to answer the research question of what effects do parents have on youth sports? The sources
provided explain and explore the different ways parents can be involved in youth sports. They
also explain the different positive and negative ways their involvement can affect their young
athlete. Each source is summarized and analyzed in a way as to help assist research on this topic.