A longitudinal examination of stressors, appraisals, and coping in youth swimming

doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2016.12.002

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Volume 29, March 2017, Pages 56-68

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2016.12.002 Get rights and content

Highlights

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This study examined the individual and shared stress experiences of parents, coaches, and adolescent swimmers.
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A case study approach was adopted.
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Parents and swimmers shared many stressors and often relied on each other to cope.
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Coaches, parents, and swimmers appraisals and coping strategies were intricately related.
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Stress interventions would benefit from fully considering the interpersonal influences on stress experiences.

Abstract

Purpose

Involvement in sport has the potential to cause athletes, coaches, and parents to experience stress. However, the extent to which experiences of stress are shared within the athletic triad is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the individual and shared stress experiences among youth swimmers, their mothers, and coach within the context of training, tapering, and competition.

Design

Multi-case study design.

Method

Four female swimmers, their mother, and one coach completed daily diaries for six weeks and up to three semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through within- and cross-case thematic analysis.

Results

The study showed evidence of shared stress experiences between all three members of the athletic triad. Participants predominately encountered organizational stressors, which they appraised in relation to movements between squad, interpersonal relationships, and overall progress towards performance goals/outcomes. Numerous coping strategies were employed by participants, with varying degrees of effectiveness, such as seeking social support, distancing, and lift sharing. The coping strategies used by coaches, swimmers, and parents were often interrelated with participants frequently seeking emotional support from one another. The majority of stressors and appraisals cited by parents and swimmers were shared, with both heavily relying on social support to help each other cope with the stressors encountered.

Conclusion

Athletes, parents, and coaches have the capacity to influence one another's stress experiences and as such their experiences should be considered simultaneously to maximize the impact of interventions.

Section snippets

Methodological and philosophical underpinning

A case study methodology was adopted for this study. This approach was considered the most appropriate methodology because a case study allows for a holistic, in-depth exploration of events or experiences of individuals over time (Yin, 2003), which aligned with the longitudinal, idiographic aim of this study. The case study approach allows for interactions and causal links within and between cases to be examined (Yin, 2003). Thus, a case study methodology was deemed particularly pertinent

Within-case overview of stressors, appraisals, and coping strategies

The participants recounted numerous stressors, appraisals, and coping strategies throughout the training, tapering, and competition phases. An overview of the stressors, appraisals, and coping strategies are provided in Table 1.

Discussion

This study aimed to explore the individual stress experiences of youth swimmers, parents, and coaches, while also identifying the common or shared stress experiences of these individuals. Specifically, we sought to identify the inter-relation between stressors, appraisals, and coping strategies within the athletic triad. Overall, findings indicate that participants had a range of stress experiences, encountering competitive, organizational, and personal demands, with the appraisals related to

Conclusion

Our study has provided further support for the transactional perspective of stress, showing the dynamic and recursive nature of the stress process among individuals. It has also provided novel insight into the shared stress experiences operating within the athletic triad (parents, coaches, and athletes) and highlighted the need for further research to fully comprehend the complexity of stress experiences in youth sport. Overall, the findings indicate a clear need for governing bodies, clubs,

Acknowledgements

This study was part-funded by a research grant from the Association of Applied Sport Psychology and an MSc fees bursary from the College of Engineering, Swansea University.

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One factor that can influence parental involvement relates to their own stress and coping experiences in sport (e.g., Burgess, Knight, & Mellalieu, 2016; Crocker, Tamminen, & Bennett, 2017; Harwood & Knight, 2009a; Hayward, Knight, & Mellalieu, 2017; Neely, McHugh, Dunn, & Holt, 2017). This remains an important line of inquiry because parents, as well as athletes and coaches, can influence one another’s stress experiences in sport and the subsequent nature of involvement (Hayward et al., 2017), reflecting a major tenet – ‘feedback loops’ – of the systems approach as a conceptual framework for advancing knowledge about parents (and others) in youth sport (Dorsch et al., 2022). Indeed, research has consistently identified a range of competitive (e.g., behaviour, performance), organisational (e.g., finance, time) and developmental (e.g., pathway transitions, education) stressors that parents might experience in relation to their child’s involvement in competitive sport (Burgess et al., 2016; Harwood & Knight, 2009a, 2009b; Harwood, Thrower, Slater, Didymus, & Frearson, 2019).
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parental involvement in youth sport is largely unknown. The objective of the study presented in this paper was to understand parental involvement in relation to their child’s participation in organised sport during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an interpretive descriptive methodology, online qualitative interviews and online focus groups with parents and youth (15–18 years) (n = 29) were conducted during June 2020. Following a rigorous reflexive thematic analysis, four themes illustrated the nature of sport parenting during this stressful and uncertain period: (a) reshaping sport parenting identity, (b) the unexpected growth of sport parenting responsibilities, (c) responding to children’s loss of sport, and (d) policies impact family commitment and attitudes to returning to sport. The findings are discussed considering Harwood and Knight’s (2015) postulates of parenting expertise in sport and offer potential ideas to better support parents and children situated in unexpectedly stressful situations.
Parents’ experiences of family food routines in adolescent elite-level swimming
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Further exploration of parental stressors in elite youth sport has identified a sport-family role conflict, whereby the demands of high-level youth sport participation have a challenging impact on wider family life and routines (e.g., Harwood et al., 2010; Harwood et al., 2019). Specifically, in the context of youth swimming, parents have reported the barrier to family commitments as a stressor (Hayward et al., 2017). One important family routine is eating together.
Parents have an important role in their child’s food routines and eating behaviour and face additional demands when that child is an athlete. Yet little is known about how parents manage providing food for their athletic child, in addition to the wider family, within the context of elite-level youth sport.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen parents (mothers = 11; fathers = 5) of elite level adolescent swimmers (i.e., competing at UK national level or above; child mean age = 15.4 years) to explore their experiences of family food routines and eating behaviour. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data.
Parents outlined the importance of ‘optimal’ fuelling for their athletic child. Parents had an active role in their child’s eating behaviour and shaping their food choices but expressed uncertainty regarding the volume of food their child should consume and concerns regarding their child’s future relationship with food. Meticulous organisational and logistical strategies were employed to meet the extensive food requirements of their adolescent elite swimmer in the face of intensive training schedules. Such schedules also impacted food routines for the wider family (i.e., fewer family mealtimes), and on the quality of parents’ own diets.
The findings highlight that clearer guidance is needed for parents of elite adolescent swimmers in relation to quantities of food intake and how to support a positive future relationship with food (specifically during any periods of transition in their training or out of the sport). The findings also identify a novel organisational stressor for parents in elite youth sport, in managing and prioritising their own diet. Further research is needed to explore the extent to which parental diet may be impacted by supporting an adolescent athlete.
Parents’ competitive stressors in professional German youth soccer academies: A mixed-method study
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This study was designed to identify parents’ competitive stressors in German elite youth soccer academies as well as their stressor-specific appraisals and emotions.
330 parents (M_age = 46.0, SD = 6.2 years) completed a mixed-method online survey to indicate stressors encountered at their child’s competitions. Parental self-disclosed stressors were analyzed using qualitative content analysis (Mayring, 2014). Psychometric assessment of parents’ primary and secondary appraisal (PASA; Gaab, 2009) and emotions (SEQ; Jones et al., 2005) were subsequently used to conduct a stressor-specific analysis.
Frequency analysis yielded 831 competitive stressors of which the majority (47%) pertained to the own child, followed by those concerning other soccer parents (18%) or the child’s coach (15%). Univariate Analysis of Variance revealed coach-related stressors to be perceived significantly more as a challenge (primary appraisal) in contrast to situations with other soccer parents. Parents’ competency beliefs (secondary appraisal) were highest for stressors involving other soccer parents. Multivariate Analysis of Variance showed a significant difference in parents’ emotional experiences with coach-related stressors eliciting the highest anger scores. Parents’ stress experiences were characterized by circular causality and interdependency, suggesting a relational approach to stress for future studies. Implications are discussed to further guide theoretical advancements in the field of parental stress as well as to shape interactions and relationships within academy youth soccer.
Exploring parent-athlete sport related communication outside of the sport environment with the Electronically Activated Recorder
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The purpose of the current study was to explore parent-athlete sport-related conversations as they naturally occurred in the private contexts that surround youth sport. A secondary aim was to understand whether male and female guardians communicate differently in sport, and whether these differences are shaped by the contexts in which they appear.
We used the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) to gather snippets of parents' and athletes' daily social interactions in the contexts that surround youth sport. A total of 220 audio files were gathered in the car ride to and from competition, the ice hockey arena, and at their home base (i.e., family residence of local teams and hotels for out-of-town teams) over the course of a 3-day competitive ice hockey tournament. Conversations were inductively coded using reflexive thematic analysis through a critical realist lens.
Higher order themes included (a) performance-related dialogue; (b) the opportunity to discuss other social agents, and (c) parental social support. Frequency analysis revealed more instances of negative evaluations and technical instruction from fathers, whereas positive encouragement was more prominent from mothers.
These findings present novel insight into the nature of parent-athlete interactions outside of the immediate sport-competition environment. We encourage scholars to consider the EAR for future investigation of the youth sport environment.
Youth sport participation and parental mental health
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We argue that equal attention should be paid to the mental health of parents in youth sport, as they assume many roles in youth sport, including supporter, provider, coach, and administrator (Knight et al., 2016). As a result of the demands of having a child in youth sport, parents may experience a range of organisational, competitive, and developmental stressors (Harwood & Knight, 2009a, b; Hayward et al., 2017; Harwood et al., 2019; Lienhart et al., 2019). Organisational stressors include the daily logistical demands of having children enrolled in sport, such as being the primary method of transportation, covering the increasingly high financial costs, and managing their child's injuries (Dorsch et al., 2009; Garst et al., 2019; Harwood et al., 2019).
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Parents from Wave 7 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children reported their child's involvement in organised youth sport and self-reported measures of mental health. A total of 3192 primary (M = 43.04 years, SD = 8.75), and 2794 secondary (M = 46.13 years, SD = 6.16) parents of adolescent children were enrolled in the study. To investigate differences by type of sport participation, sport participation was grouped into one of four categories: non-participation; individual sport only; team sport only; both team and individual sport. Measures of days per week and hours per day of participation were also used to examine the relationship between sport participation and parental mental health.
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Therefore, no trend in the type of change of athletes’ perceptions was highlighted in this study. These behavioural changes could be strictly linked to the ongoing evolution of the athlete’s environment (Hayward et al., 2016; Martinent et al., 2018). For example, at the end of the season, athletes: (a) May or may not already be selected in an intensive training centre for the next year; (b) had or had not important school exams depending on their year of study (high school diploma); and (c) faced sport challenges or not (sporting goal achieved or not).
Parental behaviours influence athletes’ psychological functioning in different ways. To date, research has typically explored parental behaviours one by one, and few papers have simultaneously considered sets of parental behaviours. The objectives of this study were to: (a) identify parental behaviours using a person-centred approach and differentiating mother’s and father’s behaviours; (b) explore the changes of parental behaviour profiles across the season; and (c) examine the prospective impact of parental behaviour profiles at the beginning of the season on athlete scores of motivation, satisfaction, and frustration of basic psychological needs at the end of the season. A longitudinal two-wave measurement design (beginning and end of a season) was used in the study. A sample of 226 French athletes completed self-reported questionnaires: (a) at the beginning and end of the season to measure the behaviours of their parents; and (b) at the end of the season to assess their motivation, satisfaction, and frustration of basic psychological needs. Latent profile transition analysis revealed three parental behaviour profiles: (a) moderate parental involvement; (b) moderate to high parental involvement; and (c) moderate mother’s involvement and low father’s involvement. The profiles were based on associated patterns of four mother’s and father’s behaviours: (a) directive behaviours; (b) active involvement; (c) praise and understanding; and (d) pressure. The three parental behaviour profiles remained stable across the season (i.e., inter- and intra-individual stability). Athletes who reported the moderate parental involvement profile at the beginning of the season had lower scores of controlled motivation and frustration of autonomy as well as higher scores of satisfaction of competence and relatedness at the end of the season than their counterparts from the two other profiles. This study contributes to enriching the complex picture of parental involvement in the sport to help sport organisations identify parents at risk of impeding their child’s development.

View all citing articles on Scopus

¹: These authors made an equal contribution to the study.

View full text

A longitudinal examination of stressors, appraisals, and coping in youth swimming

Highlights

Abstract

Purpose

Design

Method

Results

Conclusion

Section snippets

Methodological and philosophical underpinning

Within-case overview of stressors, appraisals, and coping strategies

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Parental stress and coping in elite youth gymnastics: An interpretive phenomenological analysis

Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health

The influence of the family in the development of talent in sport

The Sport Psychologist

Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing from five approaches

Coping in sport

Parents' experiences of child-to-parent socialization in organized youth sport

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

Stress in sport: The role of the organizational environment

An organizational stress review: Conceptual and theoretical issues in competitive sport

Parental influences on youth involvement in sports

College coaches' experiences with stress -“problem solvers” have problems too

The Sport Psychologist

Personality, affect, and behavior in Groups

Journal of Applied Psychology

The psychology of parental control: How well-meant parenting backfires

Stress in elite sport performers: A comparative study of competitive and organizational stressors

Journal of Sports Sciences

Cognitive appraisal of stressors encountered in sport organizations

International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

Understanding parental stressors: An investigation of British tennis-parents

Journal of Sports Sciences

Parenting in youth sport: From research to practice

Youth sport parenting styles and practices

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

The coach-parent interaction: Support or Distraction?

Exploring parent-related coaching stressors in British tennis: A developmental investigation

International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching