The Effects of Parents’ and Their Children’s Characteristics on Parental Involvement in Sport

The present study explored factors potentially influencing parental involvement. A total of 1260 parents (Mage = 43.54, SD = 5.10) completed an online form including demographic questions, questions on their children’s sport participation, and three self-report measures (Parental Involvement in Sport Questionnaire (PISQ), Competitive State Anxiety Inventory 2 (CSAI-2), and Perceived Autonomy Support Scale for Exercise Setting (PASSES)). Possible predictors of the four assessed types of parental involvement were tested with hierarchical linear regression models. The significant predictors were the parent’s gender, her/his sporting experience (or the lack thereof), and the child’s current stage of sport participation. Furthermore, significant associations were found between directive parental behavior and state anxiety and between parental praise/understanding and autonomy support, which were independent of the parent’s gender and sporting experience, and of the child’s age and sport injuries. The obtained results expand the existing knowledge of the complexity of parents’ importance in children’s sport career.