Children in Sport: Participation Motives and Psychological Stress

Abstract

Recent research on children's sport participation motives is examined to provide insight about potential sources of stress in organized youth sports. It is concluded that affiliation, skill development, success and status, excitement, and fitness represent the most important general motive factors for young athletes. A four-stage model of stress is outlined, extant empirical literature on stress in youth sports is briefly reviewed within this framework, and implications of these findings with regard to the stressfulness of athletic competition for children are discussed. It is proposed that future stress research in youth sports examine coach-player and parent-player interactions, the antecedents of competitive trait anxiety, other sources of stress in addition to performance-and success-related demands, and the role of participation motivation as a moderator variable in players' responses to various stressors. The need for research with younger children and participants in individual sports also is addressed.