Examination of parental involvement in Greek female athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine perceived and desired parental involvement in female sports in Greece. The parental involvement in sport questionnaire was administrated to 383 female former and current athletes (mean age 20.33 years, competitive experience 7.10 years) from different sports (rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, swimming, basketball, volleyball, track and field). The questionnaire assessed athletes’ perception about their parental involvement (directive behavior, praise and understanding, active involvement, pressure) and their desired parental involvement. The results showed that athletes in rhythmic, artistic gymnastics and swimming scored higher in praise and understanding, rhythmic and artistic gymnastics athletes perceived higher active involvement than desired and rhythmic gymnastics athletes perceived higher directive behavior than desired. Athletes in specializing phase desired more parental praise and understanding. Finally, pressure was predicted from all parental involvement variables. As parental involvement differs between sports, the results are discussed in order to minimize the negative influence of parental involvement in each sport.