The mediating role of parental support: The relation between sports participation, self-esteem, and motivation for sports among chinese students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Chinese students’ motivation for sports participation using the theory of social learning. We examined the role of parental support as a mediator of the relationship between motivation, self-esteem, and sports participation. We operationalized parental support as tangible and intangible support provided by parents. We hypothesized that motivation and self-esteem would be positively associated with tangible and intangible parental support, and parental support would mediate the relationship between self-esteem, motivation, and sports participation. We administered questionnaires to 255 students (male = 71; mean age = 17.4, SD = 1.15; female = 184; mean age = 17.1, SD = 1.18) and either of their parents. We tested our hypothesized model using structural equation modeling (SEM), which included testing a measurement model that specified five latent variables and then compared the estimates generated by our hypothesized model with our data. We found our hypothesized model fit the data well. As predicted, there were significant indirect effects of self-esteem and motivation on sports participation through parental support, indicating evidence of mediation. The researchers suggest that parental support for adolescents should be integrated and utilized for future interventions to promote sports participation in the cultural context of China. Future studies with longitudinal follow-ups are suggested to explore actual causal relationships.