CHAPTER 23

Children and Sport

Psychology
 The Importance
of Children’s Sport Psychology
Some of the most important implications of sport
psychology are found in the children’s sport arena, where
participants are plentiful and highly involved.
 Why a Psychology of the Young
Athlete? (1 of 2)
• Many children are involved (an estimated 44 million in
the United States). Outside of the United States, 63% of
Australian, 51% of Canadian, 59% of English, 63% of
South African, and 63% of Singaporean children
participate in sport.
• Children are intensely involved in youth sport.

(continued)
 Why a Psychology of the Young
Athlete? (2 of 2)
• Participation peaks at a critical period in the child’s life
(around age 12).
• Sport participation has important physical and
psychological consequences for children.
• Organized sport is not automatically beneficial; qualified,
competent adult leadership is needed.
Video 23.1: Critical Issues in Youth
Sports
 Youth Sports System
• Dorsch and his colleagues (2021) developed a youth sports
systems model that views youth sports as a dynamic
arrangement of factors that often interact in reciprocating
ways to influence sport experiences and outcomes of all
parties involved.
• Key point: Young athletes do not participate in a vacuum.
They are influenced by their own personality and
demographic characteristics as well as by their family and
team environment, sport organizations, their community,
and society in general.
Figure 23.1
 Why Children Participate in Youth
Sport
• Children have reasons that differ from adults for
participating in sport (have fun, improve skills, get
exercise, be with and make new friends, compete).
• Boys and girls have similar motives for involvement, but
these may vary in importance.
 The Many Facets of Fun for Young
Athletes
(1 of 2)
1. Team rituals (e.g., doing a cool team cheer)
2. Swag (e.g., traveling to new places to compete)
3. Learning and improvement (e.g., developing new skills)
4. Game-time support (e.g., having people cheer at the
game)
5. Team friendships (e.g., goofing off with teammates)
6. Practices (e.g., having well-organized practices)
(continued)
 The Many Facets of Fun for Young
Athletes
(2 of 2)
7. Games (e.g., receiving play time)
8. Mental bonuses (e.g., experiencing stress relief from
playing)
9. Positive coaching (e.g., when the coach treats players
with respect)
10.Positive team dynamics (e.g., being supported by
teammates)
11. Trying hard (e.g., working hard in practice)
 Why Children Discontinue
Participation
in Sport (1 of 4)
• Participation statistics
• Peak participation occurs between the ages of 10 and 13 years
and then consistently declines to the age of 18.
• For every 10 children who begin a sport season, 3 or 4 quit before
the start of the next season.

(continued)
 Why Children Discontinue
Participation
in Sport (2 of 4)
• Motives for withdrawal
• Major reason is that they have other things to do.
• Some negative reasons (e.g., not as good as they wanted to be,
boredom, didn’t like the pressure, decline in excitement, not able
to be with friends, not enough team spirit) are cited by some
children.
• For females versus males, lack of teamwork and team affiliation
issues as well as concerns about lack of ability were most
important reasons.
• Social identity was related to sport enjoyment, which in turn
predicted sport dropout.
(continued)
Figure 23.2
 Why Children Discontinue
Participation
in Sport (3 of 4)
• The importance of perceived competence
• Children with low perceptions of their athletic abilities drop out or
do not participate in sport.
• Children with high perceptions of their competence participate
and persist.

(continued)
 Why Children Discontinue
Participation
in Sport (4 of 4)
• Sport-specific dropouts withdraw from a particular program
but enter into other sports.
• Sport-general dropouts withdraw from all sport
participation. Sport-general dropouts are a special concern.
 Sport Involvement for Underserved
Youth
• Higher socioeconomic-status girls received more tangible
support (access to equipment and transportation) and
emotional support (permission to play and encouragement)
than lower socioeconomic-status girls.
• Challenges for sport participation for low-income parents
include parental time and scheduling demands, financial
barriers (including costs to participate), and safety barriers.
 The U.S. National Youth Sport
Strategy (1 of 2)
Five action steps for promoting participation:

1. Promote physical literacy to build a foundation for

sports involvement.
2. Encourage sport sampling—playing multiple
sports throughout the year.
3. Recruit coaches that reflect the demographics of
the communities in which programs are offered.
(continued)
 The U.S. National Youth Sport
Strategy (2 of 2)
4. Promote the benefits of youth sports participation and
create opportunities for maximizing participation.
5. Offer youth sport programs that are developmentally
appropriate, safe, inclusive, fun, and accessible by
embracing a sports-for-all mentality.
Video 23.8: LifeSport Program
 Role of Friends in Youth Sport
• Affiliation motive is a major motive that children have for
sport participation and is important in its own right.
• Sport psychology researchers have also discovered that
friends and the peer group have other important effects on
young athletes.
 Positive Dimensions of
Friendship in Youth Sport (1 of 2)
• Companionship: Spending time together
• Pleasant play association: Enjoying being around friends
• Enhancement of self-esteem: Having friends say things or
take actions that boost self-esteem
• Help and guidance: Providing assistance in learning sport
skills as well as general assistance, such as in school
• Prosocial behavior: Saying and doing things that conform
to social convention, such as sharing or not saying
negative things
(continued)
 Positive Dimensions of
Friendship in Youth Sport (2 of 2)
• Intimacy: Mutual feelings of close, personal bonds
• Emotional support: Expressing feelings of concern for
one another; absence of conflicts (some friends do not
argue, fight, or disagree)
• Conflict resolution: Ability of friends to resolve conflicts
• Attractive personal qualities: Positive characteristics
such as personality or physical features
 Negative Dimensions
of Friendship in Youth Sport
• Conflict (e.g., insults, arguments)
• Unattractive personal qualities (e.g., self-centered)
• Betrayal
• Inaccessibility (lack of opportunity to interact)
 Peers and Friendship in Sport
Research (1 of 3)
• Peers in sport influence a child’s social status,
competence, friendship patterns, motivation, and conflict
patterns.
• Both perceived and actual motor competence have been
found to be related to peer acceptance, especially for boys.
• Children who perceived more positive relationships with
peers in physical activity also reported more positive
feelings toward physical activity, higher physical activity
motivation, and higher physical self-worth.
(continued)
Peer and Friendship in Sport Research
(2 of 3)

• Positive peer relationships have also been found to be

related to lower stress, higher self-determined motivation,
and continued participation in youth soccer players.
• The way in which athletic peers interact and depend upon
one another influences efficacy beliefs, especially
relationship-inferred self-efficacy or one’s belief that their
teammates believe in them.
• Athletes seen as popular at the beginning of the season
were observed to exhibit more prosocial behaviors at the
end of their season.
(continued)
 Peer and Friendship in Sport
Research (3 of 3)
• Interactions with peers in sport were important in
helping female athletes form their self-identities.
• Best sport friends were perceived as being particularly
more encouraging and supportive compared to music
friends although having positive friends was a source of
enjoyment, competence, motivation, and lower anxiety in
both sport and music.
• The popularity status of youth changes over the course of
a sports season.
• Sport can be used to enhance peer relations.
 Friendship in Sport: Implications for
Practice (1 of 2)
• Enhance peer relationships by creating motivational
climates that place task goals and cooperation above
competition.
• Conduct drills that require small groups of players to
interact, which will maximize involvement.
• Reduce displays of social status (e.g., public picking of
teams).

(continued)
 Friendship in Sport: Implications for
Practice (2 of 2)
• In sport settings, provide time for children to be with
friends and to make new friends.
• Encourage positive peer reinforcement.
• Emphasize teamwork, foster cohesion, and emphasize the
pursuit of team goals.
 Stress and Burnout
in Children’s Competitive Sport (1 of 2)
• Are young athletes placed under too much stress?
• No. The majority of young athletes are not under excessive stress
(less than 10% are).
• Is state anxiety heightened in young athletes?
• High stress (state anxiety) levels are relatively rare but affect 2.5
million children in specific situations.
• Stress among elite junior competitors is caused by fear of failure
and feelings of inadequacy.
• Children at risk for heightened state anxiety exhibit certain
personal characteristics.
(continued)
Figure 23.3
 Stress and Burnout
in Children’s Competitive Sport (2 of 2)
• State anxiety levels in children during sport competitions
are not usually significantly higher than those during other
childhood evaluative activities.
• Excessive trait anxiety does not appear to be associated
with youth sport participation.
• Stress in elite junior competitors is caused by a fear of
failure and feelings of inadequacy.
 Characteristics of Children at Risk
for Heightened State Anxiety (1 of 2)
• High trait anxiety
• Low self-esteem
• Maladaptive perfectionism
• Low performance expectancies relative to team
• Low self-performance expectations
• Frequent worries about failure

(continued)
 Characteristics of Children at Risk
for Heightened State Anxiety (2 of 2)
• Frequent worries about adult expectations and evaluation
by others
• Less perceived fun
• Less satisfaction with their performance, regardless of
winning or losing
• Perception that participation is important to parents
• Outcome goal orientation and low perceived ability
 Situational Sources of Stress
• Defeat versus victory: Children have more state anxiety
after losing than after winning.
• Event importance: The more importance placed on a
contest, the more state anxiety is felt by the participants.
• Sport type: Children in individual sports have more state
anxiety than children in team sports.
 Stress-Induced Burnout
• Burnout is a special case of sport withdrawal in
which a young athlete discontinues sport
involvement in response to chronic stress.
• Characteristics of burnout include one-
dimensional self-definitions and little or no
control in decision making.
• We can understand burnout as a special case of
sport withdrawal when a young athlete
discontinues or curtails sport involvement in
response to chronic or long-term stress or
motivational concerns and ceases to participate
in what was once an enjoyable activity.
 Factors Associated With Burnout
in Young Athletes (1 of 2)
• Very high self- and other-imposed expectations
• Win-at-all-costs attitude
• Parental pressure
• Long repetitive practices with little variety
• Inconsistent coaching practices

(continued)
 Factors Associated With Burnout
in Young Athletes (2 of 2)
• Overuse injuries from excessive practice
• Excessive time demands
• High travel demands
• Love from others displayed on the basis of winning and
losing
• Maladaptive perfectionism
 Determinants of Burnout in Young
Athletes
(1 of 2)
• Elite young German athletes who were more at-risk of
burnout had a laissez-faire or autocratic style coach,
experienced high levels of stress outside of their sport,
suffered a lack of sleep, and had less inclination to make
psychological sacrifices. They were also more likely to be
female and participate in weight-dependent, technical, and
endurance sports.

(continued)
 Determinants of Burnout in Young
Athletes
(2 of 2)
• Elite German low-burnout-risk young athletes
were characterized by low social pressure and less
nonsport-related stress, fewer hours of training, being
more inclined to make sacrifices, having lower hours of
training and high health satisfaction levels.
• Sense of community (feelings of belonging, mattering, and
having a shared faith and commitment) perceived by
adolescent French athletes was related to burnout with
those athletes reporting a greater sense of community
being negatively associated with burnout.
 Stress and Burnout
in Children’s Competitive Sport
• Practical implications
• Develop confidence and constructive attitude toward mistakes.
• Use concrete physical strategies (e.g., stress bag to put worries
in).
• Use fun strategies (e.g., jelly belly, spaghetti toes relaxation).
• Use simple strategies (e.g., change channels).
• Vary approaches to the same exercise.
• Individualize approaches to the child’s interests.
• Remain positive and optimistic.
• Use role models (e.g., Michael Jordan).
 Effective Coaching Practices
for Young Athletes
Children have special coaching needs different from the
needs of adults.
 What the Research Says
About Coaching Children (1 of 2)
• Smith, Smoll, and Curtis’ (1979) classic research notes that
a coach’s instruction, reinforcement, and mistake-
contingent instruction and encouragement correlate with a
player’s self-esteem, motivation, and positive attitudes.
• Learning a positive approach to coaching results in lower
player dropout rates (5% compared with 26% for untrained
coaches).

(continued)
 What the Research Says
About Coaching Children (2 of 2)
• McLaren et al. (2015) assessed athlete perceptions of team
cohesion in three groups of coaches:
• Coaches who were trained in the positive, mastery approach to
coaching
Control coaches who received no training
Placebo control coaches who received training not related to the
intervention)
• Results revealed that young athletes who played for the
trained coaches reported greater amounts of task and
social cohesion
 Effective Coaching Practices
for Young Athletes (1 of 4)
• Use affirming, instructional, supportive, and autonomy-
supportive behaviors
• Catch kids doing things right and give them plenty of
praise.
• Give praise sincerely.
• Develop realistic expectations.
• Reward efforts as much as outcome.
• Focus on teaching and practicing skills (maximize
participation in an activity).
(continued)
 Effective Coaching Practices
for Young Athletes (2 of 4)
• Modify skills and activities so they are developmentally
appropriate.
• Modify rules to maximize action and participation.
• Reward correct technique, not just outcome.
• Use a positive “sandwich” approach when you correct
errors.
• Create an environment that reduces fear of trying new
skills.
• Be enthusiastic.
(continued)
 Effective Coaching Practices
for Young Athletes (3 of 4)
• When providing feedback, more effective coaches
• provided higher rates of informationally based and positive
feedback,
• delivered feedback in an autonomy supportive versus controlling
fashion,
• facilitated a growth mindset when providing feedback, and
• delivered feedback in a way to create and sustain sport
environments that are free from bias.

(continued)
 Effective Coaching Practices
for Young Athletes (4 of 4)
• Employ transformation leader behaviors:
• Idealized influence (e.g., gain followers trust), inspirational
motivation (e.g., communicate a compelling vision for the future)
• Intellectual simulation (e.g., empower followers to identify ways to
solve problems)
• Individualization (e.g., recognize individual needs)
Video 23.2: Coaching Children 10 and
Under
 Role of Parents in Youth Sports
• Parents have been found to have an important influence on
children’s sport participation and the outcomes associated
with youth sport involvement.
• Parents have been found to play a number of different roles
in youth sports.
 Different Parental Roles in Youth
Sports
• Socializer
• Role model
• Interpreter of child’s sport experience

Educate parents about their responsibilities and the sport

parent code of conduct: Appreciate the tricky business of
parental support.
Video 23.3: Role of Sport Parents
Research Findings on Parental Roles (1
of 2)

• Parental enjoyment of physical activity is related to

parental encouragement and a child’s perceived
competence and participation.
• Pressure perceived by young athletes was related to
parental behaviors that were directing and controlling.
• Parental support buffers the adverse stressful effects that
players experience.
• A positive relationship existed between youth physical
activity and the employment of an authoritative parenting
style. (continued)
Research Findings on Parental Roles (2
of 2)

• The goal orientations of parent and child are significantly

related.
• Parents can play a highly positive or a highly negative role
in the youth sport experience.
• The moral worth of parents can be defined through their
child’s sporting success or failure.
Sport Parent Expertise Postulates (1 of
2)

• Select the appropriate sport opportunities for the child

while providing important types of needed support.
• Employ an autonomy supportive or an authoritative
parenting style.
• Manage the emotional demands of competitive sport and
serve as emotionally intelligent role models.

(continued)
Sport Parent Expertise Postulates (2 of
2)

• Build and maintain healthy relationships with all

stakeholders in the youth sport setting.
• Manage the organizational and developmental demands
placed on them in the youth sport environment.
• Adapt their parenting support and involvement to their
child’s stage of athletic development.
Video 23.4: Experience of an Elite
Athlete Sport Parent
Video 23.5: Difficulty of Being a Sport
Parent
Sport Parenting Research Conclusions
(1 of 5)

• Sport parenting matters and has important influences on

young athletes’ attitudes, dispositions, motivation, affective
responses, and behavior at all stages of the athletic talent
development process.
• Factors influencing sport parenting include parents’ own
personality dispositions, parenting styles, expectations,
attitudes and behaviors, and the climates they help create.

(continued)
Sport Parenting Research Conclusions
(2 of 5)

• Sport parenting is a complex process and changes as the

child matures physically, psychologically, and socially; it
depends on what type of program the child enters and their
stage of athlete talent development.
• Effective sport parenting depends on the child, their stage
of development, the parent, and the context. Because these
variables constantly change, effective parenting practices
are likely to change as well.
• The majority of young athletes believe their parents have a
positive influence on their sporting experience.
(continued)
Sport Parenting Research Conclusions
(3 of 5)

• The more aligned the parent and child perceptions,

attitudes, and beliefs are, the more likely the child will have
a positive youth sport experience.
• Mothers and fathers influence their child’s sport
participation and experience in different ways.
• Parents have a strong influence in creating and altering the
motivational climate for youth in sport.
• Parental pressure is a major issue in youth sport.
(continued)
Sport Parenting Research Conclusions
(4 of 5)
• Sport parenting behaviors, attitudes, and expectations helpful
to children and youth in their athletic experience include
providing financial and logistical support as well as sport
opportunities, providing socioemotional support, exhibiting
unconditional love, making sacrifices for the player,
emphasizing hard work, and maintaining a positive attitude.
• Competitive success can be achieved with developmentally
appropriate and inappropriate sport parenting. However,
developmentally inappropriate sport parenting often is
associated with some type of on- or off-the-field negative
consequence.
(continued)
 Sport Parenting Research
Conclusions (5 of 5)
• Sport parent intervention workshops have been found to be
associated with such outcomes as
• improved parental emotional experiences,
• knowledge,
• skills,
• goal orientations, and
• efficacy.
 Video 23.6: Family Structure
and Athlete Talent Development
 Sport Parent Policies
Parent policies
• Be supportive of your athlete’s participation on the team but don’t
pressure your athlete.
• Keep winning in perspective and help your athlete do the same.
• Help your athlete set realistic performance goals.
• Help your athlete meet their responsibilities to the team and the
coach.
• Inform the coach of any medical or physical ailments that your
athlete may have that may affect performance or health.
 Sport Parent Guidelines
• Parent guidelines
• Remain in the spectator area.
• Let the coach be the coach.
• Provide only supportive comments to coaches, officials, and
athletes of both teams. Avoid derogatory comments.
• Do not coach your son or daughter during the contest.
• Do not drink alcohol at practices or contests or come after having
drunk too much.
• Cheer for your team.
• Show interest, enthusiasm, and support for your athlete.
• Control your emotions.
• Help when asked by coaches or officials.
Activity 23.2: Educating Youth Sport
Parents
 Professionalization of Children’s
Sports (1 of 4)
• Youth sport is becoming professionalized in the sense that
a shift is occurring from a focus on physical, social, and
psychological development to more extrinsic goals such as
winning, rankings, fame, and earning college athletic
scholarships.
• Early sport specialization, year-round intense training, and
private coaching characterize a professionalized approach.

(continued)
 Professionalization of Children’s
Sports (2 of 4)
• Myth 1: Athletic talent can be accurately predicted at a
young age.
• Myth 2: More is always better!
• Myth 3: Stages of talent development can be skipped.
• Myth 4: Intense training will lead to a college athletic
scholarship.

(continued)
 Professionalization of Children’s
Sports (3 of 4)
• Myth 5: Early single-sport specialization is essential.
• Myth 6: One cannot have fun if they are going to be an elite
athlete.
• Myth 7: Talented children need different entry programs
and coaching approaches than their less talented
counterparts.

(continued)
 Professionalization of Children’s
Sports (4 of 4)
• Opportunities for athletic talent development are important.
• Programs must be carried out in developmentally
appropriate ways, guided by scientific evidence, and not
pushed on children at younger and younger ages.
Stages of Athletic Talent Development
(1 of 2)

• Entry (initial) phase

• Investment phase
• Elite performance excellence phase
• Excellence maintenance phase

(continued)
Stages of Athletic Talent Development
(2 of 2)
• Most champion athletes did not start out with champion
aspirations in mind.
• Most champion athletes were exposed to active lifestyles
and played multiple sports as children.
• Champions must fall in love with the sport before
pursuing intense involvement.
• To optimize talent, young athletes should not specialize
in a single sport too early, and parents and coaches
should emphasize fun and development.
 Sport Specialization Guidelines
Sport specialization guidelines according to the International
Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP)
• Early diversification (sampling of different sports)
• High amounts of deliberate play
• Opportunity to specialize (around age 13)
• Highly specialized training (late adolescence or around age 16)
Video 23.7: Sport Specialization