Parental support and the development of youth athletes

Abstract

Parental support is an essential aspect in youth sport and has been well examined, highlighting the role parents play in providing positive athlete outcomes (Knight, 2019). Nevertheless, research has also displayed the negative impact parents can have from alternate perspectives (Burke et al., 2023b; Gould et al., 2006; 2008). However, the negative impact parents display may be a result of the stressors they experience (e.g., competitive, organisational, and developmental stressors; Burgess et al., 2016; Harwood et al., 2019).

Within the present thesis, four research studies are presented. Study one presented a systematic review of parental support, stressors, and coping in youth sport highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of parental support, stressors, and coping from the parents perspective. Furthermore, there is a need to explore parental support longitudinally to allow for the support and changes to be examined. Within the remaining three studies, the researcher sought to advance the literature by exploring these aspects of interest.

Study two involved the researcher exploring parents’ perspectives of parental support in female youth golf and examined the changes occurring through their youth athletes’ development. Twenty-two online interviews were conducted with parents (14 fathers, 10 mothers) of high-performance female golfers in the specialising or investment stages of development from six countries. Findings from study two revealed that parents provided emotional, practical, technical, financial, organisational, and reflective support. Furthermore, parental support changed depending on temporal differences (i.e., place in the golf season) and their daughter’s development.

Study three involved the researcher examining parents’ perceptions of parental stressors, parental coping, and perceived assistance. Twenty-two online interviews were conducted with the same parents from study two (14 fathers, 10 mothers). Reflexive thematic analysis displayed four higher-order themes of stressors: emotional, organisational, financial, and expectation stressors. Parents cited five higher-order themes of coping: distraction, viii removing themselves, talking with others, perspective taking, and hiding emotions. Analysis of perceived assistance required for parents identified four themes, including best practice for support, managing emotions, financial aid, and what to expect as a high-performance sport parent.

Finally, in study four, the researcher explored parental support and the changes in support that occurred across a golf season from multiple perspectives (parent, coach, and athlete), utilising a longitudinal qualitative case study approach. Twenty-seven semistructured interviews were conducted from three cases (two triads made up of parent, coach, and athlete, and one quartet composed of both parents in one interview, coach, and athlete). Participants attended three interviews each across a 9-month period, approximately 3-months apart incorporating pre-season, competitive season, and off-season. Results from study four highlighted that emotional, financial, organisational, practical, and technical support were present throughout the course of the season, with reflective support only being discussed during timepoint two (the competitive season). Furthermore, two higher order themes of support changes were identified: developmental change (i.e., maturity level of athlete, and level of competitive play) and temporal differences (i.e., competitive season, pre-season, or off-season).

In conclusion, the researcher provided numerous novel findings within parental support and stressors to advance the current literature from the studies included in the present thesis. Furthermore, the present research provides a novel and detailed insight into parental support from multiple perspectives across the course of a season in youth sport. The findings provide beneficial evidence for future research into parental support and parent support programs based on the multiple perspectives of parental support.

Thesis embargoed until 30th June 2026

Date of Award	Jun 2024
Original language	English
Supervisor	Kyle Paradis (Supervisor), L.A. Sharp (Supervisor) & David Woods (Supervisor)