Abstract
Parent behaviours have important implications for the sport experiences of young athletes, and researchers have begun to examine parental communication with youth athletes. However, there is a lack of information about the range of behaviours in parent-child interactions, much of the existing research has focused primarily on parental verbal comments. Thus, there is a need to better understand the quality, quantity, and types of sport-related communication between parents and athletes that occurs before and after sport events. The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of parent-child communication during the car ride to and from sport practices and games. Video recordings (N = 98 videos) of interactions during the car ride to and from sporting events were collected from 28 parent-child dyads (30 hours of video in total). Sport-related conversations were analyzed to identify verbal and nonverbal behaviours and patterns of responses between parents and athletes. The amount of time spent talking about sport-related topics was minimal (12.9%) compared to non-sport-related conversations (28.5%) or periods of silence (59.0%). Parents provided more performance praise than athletes did themselves, and parental praise and criticism typically consisted of general or task-oriented comments. Parents asked closed/descriptive questions most frequently, while open/reflective questions were asked least often. In several instances parents interjected before athletes could respond to parental comments. The patterns of interactions and responses identified in this study provide a starting point for further research to understand parent-athlete communication patterns and their contribution to the sport experiences of young athletes.Acknowledgments: This study was supported by an Early Researcher Award from the Province of Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and funding from the John R. Evans Leaders Fund/Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI).