Parent Involvement in Young Adults’ Intercollegiate Athletic Careers: Developmental Considerations and Applied Recommendations

Student-athletes have to balance their sport, academic, and social lives during the transition to college and parent involvement is an integral, but potentially problematic, aspect of this transition. The present study investigated how key parent involvement factors may be associated with positive developmental outcomes in NCAA Division I student-athletes. Student-athlete participants (N = 514) were 46% male, ranged in age from 18 to 25 years (M = 19.76, SD = 1.43), and were recruited from athletic departments at two NCAA Division I member-institutions. Participants completed online surveys with items assessing their perceptions of parent involvement (support from parents, contact with parents, academic engagement, athletic engagement) and student-athlete development (academic self-efficacy, athletic satisfaction, well-being, individuation). After controlling for individual and family demographic factors, parent academic and athletic engagement positively predicted student-athlete academic self-efficacy and athletic satisfaction; parent athletic engagement negatively predicted student-athlete depressive symptoms; all aspects of parent involvement were strong negative predictors of emotional independence; support from parents and parent academic engagement were strong negative predictors of functional independence; and support from parents was a negative predictor and athletic engagement a strong positive predictor of student-athletes’ attainment of adult criteria. The present research enhances understanding of the role parent involvement may play in student-athlete development and thus may inform the creation of evidence-based policy and programming at NCAA Division I member-institutions

An Ecological Perspective on the Media and Youth Development

From an ecological perspective, daily activities are both a cause and a consequence of youth development. Research on youth activities directs attention to the processes through which daily activities may have an impact on youth, including: (a) providing chances to learn and practice skills; (b) serving as a forum for identity development; (c) affording opportunities to build social ties; (d) connecting youth to social institutions; and (e) keeping youth from engaging in other kinds of activities. Youth’s daily activities, in turn, both influence and are influenced by the multi-layered ecology within which their lives are embedded, an ecology that ranges from the proximal contexts of everyday life (e.g., family, peer group) to the larger political, economic, legal and cultural contexts of the larger society. The paper concludes with consideration of methodological issues and directions for research on the media and youth development

The development and correlates of academic interests from childhood through adolescence.

Study goals were to assess: (1) the development of academic interests from middle childhood through late adolescence, (2) the degree to which junior high and high school transitions, parents’ educational expectations, interests, and education, were related to changes in academic interests, and (3) the longitudinal links between youth’s academic interests and school grades. Participants were mothers, fathers, and two siblings from 201, White, working and middle class families who were interviewed in their homes on up to 9 annual occasions. Multi-level model analyses revealed overall declines in youth’s interests over time, with boys showing more rapid decline than girls. Mothers’ educational expectations were positively related to youth’s interests, and youth’s interests declined less when fathers had more education. The transition to junior high, but not high school, was linked to decline in interests, but this was buffered by mothers’ academic interests. Declines in youth’s academic interests were linked to declines in school grades

An Exploratory Study of the Five Cs Model of Positive Youth Development Among Indiana 4-H Youth

The purpose of this study was to explore the levels of positive youth development (PYD) among Indiana 4-H club participants. Questionnaires were collected from a convenience sample of [State] youth (n = 453). Findings indicated that youth who participated in the 4-H program reported significantly higher total positive youth development than those who had never participated in 4-H. Youth who participated in the 4-H program also reported significantly higher scores on four of the Five Cs of PYD (Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring). The findings of this study contribute to the Developmental Systems Theory by confirming the role that 4-H has in contributing to positive youth development. Recommendations are provided to guide future research related to the Five Cs aspect of positive youth development among 4-H youth

The Development of Gendered Interests and Personality Qualities from Middle Childhood through Adolescence: A Bio-Social Analysis

This study charted the development of gendered personality qualities and activity interests from age 7 to age 19 in 364 first- and second-born siblings from 185 White, middle/working class families; assessed links between time in gendered social contexts (with mother, father, female peers and male peers) and gender development; and tested whether changes in testosterone moderated links between time use and gender development. Multi-level models documented that patterns of change varied across dimensions of gender and by sex and birth order and that time in gendered social contexts was generally linked to development of more stereotypical qualities. Associations between time with mother and expressivity and time with father and instrumentality were stronger for youth with slower increases in testosterone

Individual, Relationship, and Context Factors Associated with Parent Support and Pressure in Organized Youth Sport

Objectives: We examined the association of multiple process, person, and context factors (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) with parents’ involvement (support and pressure) in sport. Specifically, we examined (a) the concordance among self, partner, and child reports of fathers and mothers for key study variables, and (b) prediction of parent support and pressure in youth sport by warmth and conflict in the parent–child relationship, parent positive and negative affect, and mastery and ego dimensions of the coach-created motivational climate.Design: Cross-sectional survey. Method: Self-reports of study variables were collected from athletes (ages 11–13 years) and parents from participating families (final N = 201). Multitrait-multimethod analysis was used to address the first study aim and multivariate multiple regression analysis for the second aim. Results: Values for concordance among reporters were largely significant and in hypothesized directions, yet were of modest magnitude and suggested low reporter agreement (Cohen\u27s κ range = −.07–.35). Multivariate relationships were significant and were of low to moderate magnitude (Rd range = .04–.22). Canonical loadings showed that warmth, positive affect, and mastery climate positively associate with support, whereas conflict, negative affect, and ego climate positively associate with pressure from fathers and mothers. Conflict and positive affect positively associated with support and pressure in some functions, suggesting complexity in interpretations of parent involvement. Conclusion: Findings support the adaptive role of parent-child warmth, positive parent affect, and coach-created mastery motivational climate in youth sport; however, low concordance of reporter perceptions must be considered when pursuing family-related questions in sport. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved

Longitudinal Changes in Adolescents\u27 School Bonding During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Individual, Parenting, and Family Correlates

The current study examined changes in adolescents\u27 school bonding from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic and its individual, parenting, and family-level correlates. Participants were two adolescents (50% male; Mage = 14 years) and one parent (85% female; Mage = 45 years) from 682 families (N = 2046) from an ongoing longitudinal study. Adolescents reported on their school bonding, stress, and coping, while parents reported on their involvement in adolescents\u27 education and pandemic-related financial need. A two-wave latent change score model suggested that adolescents\u27 school bonding decreased from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress and pandemic-related financial need served as risk factors, whereas coping and parental involvement served as protective factors against declines in adolescents\u27 school bonding

A Longitudinal Examination of the Bidirectional Links Between Academic Achievement and Parent-Adolescent Conflict

We examined reciprocal associations between parent-adolescent conflict and academic achievement over a 2-year period. Participants were mothers, fathers, and adolescents from predominantly White, working and middle class families (N = 168). After accounting for previous academic achievement, parent-adolescent conflict predicted relative declines in academic achievement 2 years later. After controlling for relationship quality at Time 1, lower math grades predicted relative increases in parent-adolescent conflict 2 years later among families with less education

Parent Involvement in Young Adults’ Intercollegiate Athletic Careers: Developmental Considerations and Applied Recommendations

Student-athletes have to balance their sport, academic, and social lives during the transition to college and parent involvement is an integral, but potentially problematic, aspect of this transition. The present study investigated how key parent involvement factors may be associated with positive developmental outcomes in NCAA Division I student-athletes. Student-athlete participants (N = 514) were 46% male, ranged in age from 18 to 25 years (M = 19.76, SD = 1.43), and were recruited from athletic departments at two NCAA Division I member-institutions. Participants completed online surveys with items assessing their perceptions of parent involvement (support from parents, contact with parents, academic engagement, athletic engagement) and student-athlete development (academic self-efficacy, athletic satisfaction, well-being, individuation). After controlling for individual and family demographic factors, parent academic and athletic engagement positively predicted student-athlete aca-demic self-efficacy and athletic satisfaction; parent athletic engagement negatively predicted student-athlete depressive symptoms; all aspects of parent involvement were strong negative predictors of emotional independence; support from parents and parent academic engagement were strong negative predictors of functional independence; and support from parents was a negative predictor and athletic engage-ment a strong positive predictor of student-athletes’ attainment of adult criteria. The present research enhances understanding of the role parent involvement may play in student-athlete development and thus may inform the creation of evidence-based policy and programming at NCAA Division I member-institutions