Socioeconomic Status, Parental Support, Motivation and Self-confidence in Youth Competitive Sport

Abstract

The relationship between family and competitive sport and its complex interactions has been studied as a key factor by several authors. However, many questions about how psychological, cultural and social variables interact have been unanswered. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between socioeconomic stat us and perceived parental support in young athletes of a high performance center and subsequently, with motivation and self-confidence, as these two variables have been identified as relevant by previous research.For this purpose, and with a DEXPLOS design, a parental support scale was made. It resulted in a six items scale whose discriminative capacity in addition to its internal consistenc y was high (Cronbach Alpha =0.84). Firstly, an open-ended-questionnaire (qualitative phase) was filled out by 346 youth athletes, measuring socioeconomic status (residence, parent's educational level, parent's job and income) besides athlete's parental support perception. These answers were analyzed by judge agreement to lead into a quantitative close -end- questionnaire, which was completed in a five-interval Likert scale by 209 people. Furthermore, motivation and self- confidence were evaluated through the Questionnaire of Psychological Characteristics involved in Sport Performance (Cuestionario “Características Psicológicas relacionadas con el Rendimiento Deportivo“-CPRD) in order to review whether the perception of parental support or its lack is reflected in these two relevant psychological variables for sport performance.Results show that there exists a positive relationship between parental support and status (living in a single- parent family because of divorce or abandonment, the state of origin and the father's educational level), as well as related to specific aspects of self-confidence during competition and motivation. It therefore aims to further definition of the “parental support” construct, avoiding reductionist views that limited it to a certain type of variables. It might not only help to explain the concept but it can also be a useful tool for coaches, sport managers and administrators in their daily job with sport youth.