Parental communication and reflective practice among youth sport parents

Abstract

Parents can contribute to their children’s motivation and competence in sport through supportive behaviors; however, limited research has demonstrated how parents might learn to engage in these supportive behaviors with their child. The purpose of this research was to examine whether increasing parents’ awareness of their communication would influence parent-athlete communication behaviors. Ten hockey and soccer athletes between 13–15 years of age (7 males and 3 females), and one of their parents participated in the study (total N = 20). Parents and athletes completed pre- and post-intervention interviews and surveys. Parents also participated in a workshop and completed reflective practice audio diaries over six weeks. The qualitative findings demonstrated that the process of reflective practice may have increased parents’ awareness of their communication and their role as a sport parent, and encouraged parents to engage in critical self-evaluation. However, the quantitative results did not indicate statistically significant changes in perceptions of parent support, pressure, parenting style, or quality of communication over the six-week period. These findings provide important implications for parents and sport organizations by highlighting the use of reflective practice for improving parent-child communication.

Lay Summary: We examined the influence of reflective practice on parent-athlete communication. Through engaging in reflective practice, parents engaged in critical self-evaluation of their communication behaviors. Reflective practice encouraged parents to be more autonomy supportive toward their child, and parents became more aware of their communication and responsibilities as a sport parent.