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Parents enroll their children in sport for a variety of reasons. Similar to other life domains (i.e., school, peer relationships, eating habits) the goal is to manipulate an environment that would allow their children to develop and adopt skills and competencies that support a healthy, self-directed, responsible and autonomous form of life (Hutchinson, Baldwin, & Caldwell, 2003). Within the sport domain, parental commitment is a key factor requiring significant expenditures of both time and money (Chafetz & Kotarba, 1995; Duncan, 1997; Hellstedt, 1995). Parents have also come to view sports participation, especially competitive sports, as a key component of their children's overall socialization (Coakley, 2006).
A growing body of literature presents compelling evidence that the socialization activities of fathers and mothers not only impact children's initial sport involvement they also predict future sport activity choices (Fredericks & Eccles, 2005). Several studies have confirmed that parent involvement in the form of emotional support and role modeling is positively related to both enjoyment and participation levels in sport (Babkes & Weiss, 1999; Brustad, 1993; 1996; Fredericks & Eccles, 2005; Green & Chalip, 1997). In addition, activities such as paying registration fees and purchasing equipment, providing transportation, and attending games and practices are often interpreted as positive support for sport participation by children (Stein & Raedeke, 1999). The beliefs and subsequent socialization activities of parents are so powerful, especially during the introductory stages of a child's sport participation, that they have been shown to significantly influence children's sport-related beliefs and can create gender differences (Eccles & Harold, 1991; Fredericks & Eccles, 2002). For example, Eccles and Harold (1991) found that boys view sports as more important, useful, and enjoyable than did girls. Similarly, parents typically report that sport is more important for their sons than it is for their daughters (Brustad, 1993; Eccles, Jacobs, & Harold, 1990; Jacobs & Eccles, 1992).
The literature on parent involvement in children's sport tends to focus on either negative or positive outcomes. It seems important to point out that parent involvement in their child's sport experiences is neither inherently good nor bad. A critical determining factor is the child's subjective evaluation of their parent's involvement (Stein & Raedeke, 1999). Highly involved parents can be perceived as providing either appropriate levels of encouragement and support or excessive amounts of pressure. For example, Scanlan and Lewthwaite (1984) found that children who reported higher pressure from parents were worried about meeting their parent's expectations and experienced higher levels of state anxiety. Similarly, previous research has reported that pre-competition anxiety, perceived competence, and internal control was directly linked to parental expectations, involvement, and perceived pressure (Gould, Eklund, Petlichkof, Peterson, & Bump, 1991; Weiss, Weise, & Klint, 1989). As a parent's level and intensity of involvement in their child's sport increases children tend to report feeling "trapped" and may experience sport burnout (Coakley, 1992). Therefore, both the nature and quality of parent-child interactions is critical to understanding and predicting affective outcomes experienced by children in sport (Brustad, 1996).
Welk, Babkes, and Schaben (2004) suggest that the direct and indirect influence experienced by children in sport is mediated by two social-cognitive constructs: outcome expectancies and efficacy expectancies. For children to stay interested and involved in sport they typically evaluate their involvement from two perspectives "Is it worth it?" (outcome expectancy) and "Am I able?" (efficacy expectancy) (Welk et al., 2004). Similar to Eccles and colleagues expectancy-value theory, parents can significantly influence the child's evaluation of their sport involvement by providing access to various sport experiences and by influencing the child's interpretation of these experiences (see Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998; Fredericks, & Eccles, 2004). Parents with positive values and expectancies are more likely to exhibit pro-social behavior and provide support and encouragement. However, the impact of parent behaviors is entirely dependent upon the child's interpretation of those behaviors. Children that perceive parental involvement as encouraging and supportive are more likely to adopt a positive attitude toward sport and exhibit higher perception levels of competence. Conversely, children who perceive parental involvement as negative may have lower perceptions of competence and lose interest in sports.
Although the child athlete's perceptions would appear to be most important when examining children's outcome and efficacy expectancies in sport, a parent's assessment of their own involvement in their child's sport may also be important. Miller (1981) for example argued that parents rarely perceive their children's subjective experiences accurately and that children typically learn to accommodate parents by describing experiences in a manner that is consistent with their parent's perception. Green and Chalip (1997) offer partial support for this notion in the context of youth sports reporting that children's satisfactions were not related to parent's satisfaction. Green and Chalip (1997) further note that both children's and parents' satisfaction are important predictors of enduring involvement in youth sports yet each are independent and cannot be inferred reliably from the other. Within the context of parental involvement in their child's involvement in sports it seems reasonable to draw a similar conclusion. A parental value system about the importance of sport for their children and their expectancies about their child's success in sports has been shaped by their past involvement in sports and the values and expectancies exhibited by their own parents. Therefore, how parents choose to operationalize their values and expectancies may conflict with the child's interpretation of their behavior. For example, parents with positive values about sport combined with high expectations about their child's involvement and success may result in behavior that is interpreted by the child as over involvement and stressful.
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