Parental expectations and burnout in youth sports: adolescent and parent perceptions

¶ … Unrealistic Expectations on Children in Youth Sports and Early Burnout

Research Structure

Youth Sports

Motivators for Participation in Sports

Effect of Unrealistic Expectations and Parental Pressure on the Sports Performance of the Children

Reliability and Validity

EXPECTED CONCLUSION

Recommendation for Further Research

This study aims at identifying the effect of unrealistic expectations of parents on burnout in youth sport. In order to identify these effects appropriately, this study will examine the perceptions of parents as well as their children in relation to the purpose of the involvement of their child in sports. In addition to that, it will also examine the perception of the children about the expectations of their parents in relation to their sport activities.

Apart from that, the expectations of parents will be identified and then the impact of these expectations on the performance of children in the sport activities will be evaluated. This study also will also compare the perceptions of the parents and their children in order to find out further examine discrepancies that exists between them.

A total of 50 adolescents, who belong to the age group ranging from eleven years old to nineteen years old, and 75 of their parents will be surveyed and interviewed in relation to the involvement of their children in the sports activities. Using sport as a medium a number of variables, about the perceptions of the children in relation to their parents, and the perception of the parents about themselves and the relationship that existed between the parents and their children will be reviewed.

This research will also evaluate the differences that exist between the perceptions of the children and the perceptions of the child. It also aims at identifying the manner in which support of parents and parental pressure influenced the success of the child and enhanced his or her enjoyment for sports. It is estimated that parents might have a more positive perception of themselves and their involvement in the sport activities of their children as compared to the negative or a less attractive perception of the children in relation to the involvement of their parents in the sports activities.

Effects of Unrealistic Expectations on Children in Youth Sports and Early Burnout

1. INTRODUCTION

1.2. Purpose of the Research

As the involvement of parents plays an important role determining the success or failure of the children in youth sports, therefore, this research aims at identifying the impact and contribution of unrealistic expectations of the children towards the burnout of the children in youth sports.

1.3. Objectives of the Research

This research aims at addressing the following objectives:

To analyze the manner in which the unrealistic expectations of parents lead towards the burnout of children in youth sports.

To identify and evaluate the gap that exists between the perceptions of parents and the children in relation to the involvement of parents in the children sports programs.

To highlight the manner in which the parents can be educated so that they may have a positive impact on the sports life of their children.

1.4. Research Questions

The basic questions that will be addressed by this research are listed in the following section:

In what manner do the unrealistic expectations of parents lead towards the burnout of children in youth sports?

What kind of a gap that exists between the perceptions of parents and the children in relation to the involvement of parents in the children sports programs?

How can the parents be educated so that they may have a positive impact on the sports life of their children?

1.5. Research Structure

This research consists of six chapters including the introductory chapter. The first chapter is of introduction which highlights the important variables in relation to this research, it also puts light on the purpose and objectives of the research. In addition to that, this chapter also lists down the research questions and discusses the significance of this study. The second chapter is of literature review. This chapter critically analyzes the previous research that exists in relation to the issue under consideration. It carefully builds up the argument, which then act as the basis for this research.

The third chapter, which is of data analysis, descriptively lists down all the methods that have been deployed for the collection, analysis and representation of the data. The basic tools used for data collection are surveys and interviews. The fourth chapter is of data and analysis this chapter represents all the data that has been collected for the purpose of this research. The fifth chapter, which is of discussion, relates the collected data with the previous research and identifies the differences that exist between the two of them. The last chapter is of conclusion. This chapter ties all the research questions and objectives and lists down the limitations of the research. In addition to that, this chapter also proposes recommendations for further research.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW:

This chapter discusses and critically examines the previous research that exist in relation to the effect of unrealistic parental expectations on the burnout of the children in youth sports:

2.1. Youth Sports

It has been indicated by a number of studies that organized sport has been observed to play an influential role in the development and mentoring of children and youth. It has also been estimated that every year around 35 million children take part in youth sports in the United States of America. (Weiss & Hayashi, 1996) These children have been observed to take part in the sports programs that are held at community, school or private level. (Fraser-Thomas & Cote et al., 2008)

There are a number of physical and psychosocial bene-ts that are associated with the involvement of children in various sports programs. (Fraser-Thomas & Cote e et al., 2005) It shall, however, be kept under consideration that the dropout rates in relation to the youth sport programs in the North America has an average of 35% in any given year. It has also been observed by various studies that these dropout rates generally reach their highest levels during the adolescence period of the individuals. (Petlichkoff, 1996). As a result, it has been identified by the sport psychology that the dropout rate of youth sport shall be considered as an area of concern by the officials. (Gould & Feltz et al., 1982).

A number of researches aimed at identifying the reasons that underlie the participation and withdrawal of youth in the sports, over the past three decades. These researches were primarily framed within the boundaries of the theories of motivation. Most of these researches identified that the most common reasons that underlie the participation of youth in sports were relates to the concepts of physical competence, social acceptance, and enjoyment. On the other hand, the most common reasons that underlie the withdrawal of youth from sports, as indicated by a wide variety of researches, include con-icts of interests, which may exist between children, parents and the coaches, as well as the negative experiences that the children confront such as, conflicts with and among coach, lack of time available for playing and lack of fun (Weiss & Williams, 2004).

Petlichkoff (1993) was one of the first scientists who suggested that the reasons behind the participation and withdrawal of children from youth sports cannot be related. Instead, she stated that withdrawal can be delineated as a slow and gradual process which involves a continuous and consistent cost-bene-t analysis of consequences associated with participation in sports program. (Petlichkoff, 1993) An example of this cost and benefit analysis would be the comparison and contrast of lack of playing time with improvement and enhancement of sports skills. (Fraser-Thomas & Cote et al., 2008)

In addition to that, a number of researchers have placed a growing amount of emphasis on the importance of exploring and understanding the processes through which the children may go before they withdraw from their respective sports programs. More speci-cally, the researchers and scholars have suggested that there is a need for a longitudinal study to explore how a wide variety of physical factors including, patterns of training and level of maturation, and psychosocial factors such as, influences of coach, parents, peers, and siblings, may interact with each other in order to in-uence the decision-making processes of the children, which ultimately result in continued participation or withdrawal from the sports programs and activities. (Weiss & Petlichkoff, 1989; Weiss & Williams, 2004)

2.2. Motivators for Participation in Sports

As it has been identified by a number of studies that around millions of children participate in youth sports each year, therefore, it is vital for the researchers understand and evaluate the motivators, predictors, and detracting factors in relation to involvement in sports activities. As discussed above, children generally participate in youth sports because of a large number of reasons and they also confront multiple factors for non-involvement in sports as well (Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988). For example, the reasons motivating the children to get involved in youth sports, as identified by the largest study of its type today, which surveyed almost 8000 respondents, (Seefeldt, & Others, 1992). are listed in the following section:

In order to have fun and enjoy.

In order to do something that the individual believes he or she is good at.

In order to maintain his or her fitness levels and stay in shape.

In order to learn new sports skills and improve and enhance the existing skills of oneself.

In order to learn the ability to play as a part of the team.

The above motives for participation can be regarded as interesting for a number of reasons. First, irrespective of the gender of the child, the most important reason that underlie the participation in sport activities is the desire to have fun and enjoy. Second, most of the young athletes who participate in youth sports confront multiple motives that backup the involvement in sports; these multiple factors can be defined as a compendium of skill development, physical development, and social interaction. Finally, the passion and dedication "to win" is rated 8th in the lists of the factors that motivate the children to participate in the school-sponsored sports. It shall, however, be kept under consideration that this factor was not even listed by the children who participate in non-school sport programs. (Seefeldt, & Others, 1992).

Even though, the identification and determination of the key that motivate the child to participate in the youth sports play an influential role in assisting the researchers to understand that underlie the participation of children in sports program, but these factors have not been observed to narrate the entire story. This is because it has been identified by a number of studies that there are deeper motives that underlie the participation of children in youth sports. (Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988).

The most influential among these deep motives is the perception of the young athletes in relation to their competence or ability. It has been observed by a number of researches that children who feel competent regarding their physical abilities have a greater probability to participate in sport activities and persist their physical activity as compared to the children who do not have experience high degree of competence in relation to their physical activities. Such children have been observed to not become involved in sports activities and they are more likely to discontinue their participation if they become involved. (Weiss & Ferrer-Caja, 2002).

It can, therefore, be concluded that in order to enhance the participation and involvement of children in sports, it is necessary that the concerned people help them feel competent and trust their abilities. (Fredricks & Eccles, 2004)

2.3. Effect of Unrealistic Expectations and Parental Pressure on the Sports Performance of the Children

A wide variety of researches have indicated that the achievements of children are influentially effected by four different components of parenting. These components include support, performance goals, directiveness, and modeling. The first component, which is parental support, can be defined as indicated by Power and Woogler, (1994) "unconditional acceptance of and warmth toward the child" (Power and Woogler, 1994).

This component of parenting is observed to have a positive impact on the performance of child in sports activities. This is because parental support ensures that the child can have high levels of self-worth. In addition to that, it also enables the child to enhance his or her performance and aid him in appropriately defining who he is. (Fredricks & Eccles, 2004)

Parenting, through the deployment of modeling and goal setting, assist the parents to motivate the child so that he may facilitated to achieve the defined standards that have been communicated to him by the concerned authorities. Directiveness, on the other hand, can be defined as a concept of parenting which defines the degree in which the parents get directly involved in the coaching of the children. (Fredricks & Eccles, 2004)

Under such a case parents spend a large amount of time in identifying and communicating the ways in which the children can change their failures and short-comings into successes and achievements. As suggested by a number of stidies, this approach can have a negative connotation (Power and Woogler, 1994).

According to the literature, parental pressure can be defined as the antithesis of parental support. According to Hellstedt (1990), parental pressure can be defined as "the amount of motivational influence the parent exerts on the child athlete to compete in sports, perform at a certain level, and continue sport participation." (Hellstedt, 1990)

Hoyle and Leff (1999), on the other hand, stated that "parental pressure is associated with discontent with sport participation, stress associated with evaluation of performance outcomes, and negative or uncertain appraisals of self-worth." (Hoyle and Leff, 1999; Leff and Hoyle, 1995).

It has also been indicated by Hoyle and Leff (1999) say that parental pressure is "behavior perceived by their children as indicating expectations of unlikely, even unattainable heights of accomplishment." (Hoyle and Leff, 1999).

It can be concluded on the basis of the above definitions that, parental pressure is seen as the differences that exist between expectations of parents in relation to their child, which are often over-inflated and the expectations of child about himself or herself, which are generally more realistic in nature. (Hoyle and Leff, 1999).

The over inflated and unrealistic expectations of parents are a lot for a child to handle in his sports life. Too much of the pressure and expectations leads toward the development of high levels of anxiety among the children. In addition to that, these factors also have a detrimental impact on the relationship that exists between the parents and their children and create tension in it. (Fredricks & Eccles, 2004)

The levels of parental pressure and expectations are translated into the feeling of fear among the children in relation to failure in sports activities, which, in return, forces that the children to confront unmeasurable amounts of stress and anxiety. It has been expressed by the elite athletes that they confront a higher level of pressures and expectations, as compared to the recreational athletes. (Hellstedt, 1990).

In addition to that, it has been identified by Butcher, Lindner and Johns (2002) that parental pressure and unrealistic expectations of parents were two of the most important reasons that underlie the withdrawal of children from participating in sport activities. The study indicated that the parents of the young athletes are generally not aware of the pressure and the feeling of disappointment from failure that there unrealistic and overinflated expectations instill in the minds of their children. (Butcher & Lindner et al., 2002)

Moreover, it has also been indicated by this study that there is a great probability that these parents might not even be aware of the fact that they are putting intense pressure on their children. The researchers suggested that an in depth study that aims at studying the perceptions of the children and the parents shall be performed to analyze the effect of the impact of parental pressure on sport activities effectively. (Butcher & Lindner et al., 2002).

The pressure put on the children, through the unrealistic expectations of the parents, to achieve set and predefined goals in their sports activities is an issue, which, in the present era, is something on which athletes are paying ever increasing amounts of attention. (Hamstra, Cherubini, and Sank, 2002; Hoyle and Leff, 1999).

This pressure has been able to gain excessive amounts of attention from the concerned authorities and experts because it has been observed to be directly related with injury and burnout in the youth sports. In addition to that, it also leads toward the destruction of self-confidence and well-being among the children who participate in youth sports. (Hamstra, Cherubini, and Sank, 2002; Hoyle and Leff, 1999).

The irony of this situation is that when the parents pressurize their child to succeed in a given sport to the extent that lead towards the burnout or injury of the child, then that child loses his ability to participate effectively in the sport, much less excel to the levels that are demanded by the parental pressure. (Hamstra, Cherubini and Sank, 2002; Hill 1991).

Specialization in any one of the sport activities has also been regarded as an unspoken and subtle level of pressure that the parents exert and place on their children. By placing this pressure parents feel that their children will be move step ahead in the competition which they confront in a given sport, but in reality this pressure is one of the major reasons that lead toward the burnout of their child in the given sport activity or program. (Hamstra, Cherubini and Sank, 2002; Hill 1991).

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1. Data Collection and Analysis

This research will use a mixed methodology, which can be defined as a combination of qualitative and quantitative forms of research. The quantitative research focuses on the frequency and the number of responses. The qualitative research, on the other hand, aims at identifying and revealing the hidden meanings that underlie the responses. (Zikmund, 2010)

A combination of primary and secondary data will be collected for the purpose of this research. Here, secondary data can be defined as the data that has been collected previously and is available for public use. Primary data, on the other hand, can be defined as the data that is collected by the researcher himself, for the issue under consideration. (Zikmund, 2010)

The secondary data was collected from a number of academic journals, news publications and publications of various organizations. Some of the journals were used for the purpose of secondary data collection are listed below:

Athletic Therapy Today

School Psychology Review

Journal Of Sport Behavior

Spotlight On Youth Sports

Journal Of Marriage And The Family

The primary data, on the other hand, will be collected through the deployment of questionnaires and interviews. A total of 50 children and their parents will be surveyed. In addition to that, a random sample of 10 children, their parents and coaches will be extracted and interviews, which will be consisting of semi-structured questions, will be conducted with them. Such a mixed methodology will enable the researcher to get a greater insight into the issue under consideration. (Zikmund, 2010)

The collected data will be analyzed with the help of statistical tools. For the purpose of the data collected through interviews, the researcher will closely scrutinize all the responses of the interviewees. These responses will then be divided into various categories. The researcher will then combine the categories that are closely related to each other in a single group for effective analysis of the responses. (Zikmund, 2010)

3.2. Data Presentation

The data collected through the questionnaires will be presented with the help of tables and charts. The data collected through interviews will be quoted directly in the research so that the readers might have a direct glimpse of the perception of the respondents. The research will also formulate an authentic pattern throughout the research so that the readers might be able to extract important information from the research in a facilitated manner. (Zikmund, 2010)

3.3. Reliability and Validity

The researcher will give due weightage to the reliability and authenticity of the data. For this purpose, the data will be collected from the sources that are published by authentic publishers. In addition to that, it will be ensured that the respondents are contacted at a time that is convenient for them and at moments when they feel at ease so that they may give responses that are not shaded by time pressure and reserved behavior. (Zikmund, 2010)

4. EXPECTED CONCLUSION

On the basis of the above research it can be concluded that unrealistic expectations of parents exert extreme amount of pressure on the children which in return leads toward burnout and withdrawal from sports activities. It can also be concluded that, parents are often not aware of the pressure that they exist on their children and hence they do not make any efforts to stop exerting such pressure.

4.1. Limitations of the Study

The major limitation that this study confronts is the small sample size. In addition to that, limited funds and time frame also act as a limitation for this study. Moreover use of simple statistical tools may also not enable the researcher to appropriately analyze the data and generate appropriate results.

4.2. Recommendation for Further Research

A study consisting of a larger sample and larger amount of funds may generate more exact result. In addition to that, a study that has a bigger time frame and deploys sophisticated statistical tools may enable the researcher to generate more efficient and accurate results.