| Abstract [eng] |
Relevance of research topic. Recent decades have seen a growing concern for the prospects of today’s youth. Major problems of young people are related to pervasive destructive and inappropriate behaviour: delinquency, aggression, bullying, drug abuse etc. (Holt, Jones, 2008; Strachan, Côté, Deakin, 2011). These problems are the result of changing social factors: both parents work full-time, single-parent families, unattended children at home (Strachan et al., 2011). Successful personality development depends on a number of external factors: family, school, positive role models, purposefully and deliberately chosen way of self-realization and leisure time activities. The role of a family for the child’s positive personality development is in particular highlighted (Vierimaa et al., 2012). Close and solid relationships between children and parents ensure the consistent feeling of security and confidence (Carr, 2014). Affectionate relations between parents and children influence the formation of close links with other people (Holt, Knight, 2014; Steinberg, 2014). The importance of attachment becomes apparent in adolescence – the period of psychological and social transition from childhood to adulthood (Nawaz, 2011). Early parent–child relationship plays a vital role in this period. Attachment and relationship with parents change in the period of adolescence, young people becoming more independent from their parents. In this period the parent–child attachment weakens as young people are faced with new challenges; they seek independence and self-sufficiency, develop their self-identity. Researchers have noted that secure attachment to family gives adolescents a more secure emotional basis which they can always rely on. Gained self-confidence and affectionate relations help adolescents in developing and maintaining relationships with peers (Nawaz, Gilani, 2011). As adolescents spend most of the time without parents, their personality development is strongly influenced not only by parents, but also by peers (Arnon et al., 2008). Therefore, it is important for adolescents to establish or strengthen the existing relationships with friends (Nawaz, 2011). The time spent with peers enables them to develop and maintain social relationships outside the family, to be independent from their parents, to build their future adult identity, express their needs and develop their culture in a group of peers (Arnon et al., 2008). Communication and time spent with peers is not just having fun in one’s leisure time but also an important part of socialization process (Arnon et al., 2008). Meaningful leisure activities have a positive impact on adolescents’ development: prevent risky behaviour with negative consequences for the future; ensure better academic achievements; involve into community activities and help to pursue a career in adulthood (Fredricks, Eccles, 2010). Meaningful leisure activities include participation in sporting activities, which, according to scientific research, is one of the most popular after-school activities among adolescents (Šukys, 2008; Tomik et al., 2012). Parental mission is to guide the child into activities that, through continuous participation, would build the child’s self-confidence and ability to solve problems, teach aim setting and instil values (Warner et al., 2015). Deliberate practice and its advantages have been widely researched (Strachan et al., 2011; Vierimaa et al., 2012). Participation in sports is one of social activities that has a positive effect on a child’s development. This attractive activity with respectable image can lead to positive social changes. Participation in sporting activities gives children the opportunity to enjoy high-quality leisure time; children become more disciplined and active in many different spheres (Rottensteiner et al., 2013). Although organized youth sports provide meaningful activities to millions of children, sociological studies suggest that the number of children engaged in sporting activities is constantly decreasing, and children’s negative attitude towards sports, alienation and passiveness is becoming a serious problem (Smoll et al., 2011). Most of researchers acknowledge that parents have the greatest influence in sporting activities of their children (Lavoi, Stellino, 2008; Dorsch et al., 2009; Sapieja et al., 2011; Nunomura, Oliveira, 2013; Holt, Knight, 2014; Knight, Holt 2014; Dorsch, Smith, 2016), that participation in youth sport is the process where parents play the most important role (Sanchez-Miguel et al., 2013). Initially children enjoy sports for small achievements; later on sport becomes a motivating factor, an interesting and meaningful activity that eventually becomes a lifestyle (Wells et al., 2005; Perrotta, Pannelli, 2014; Prichard, Deutsch, 2015; McMillan et al., 2016) passed on to children and grandchildren, i.e. to the next generations. In order to involve children into sporting activities from the early age and to achieve progress in fully disclosing their talents it is necessary to create a favourable environment in the early years of the child’s personality development and parents play a very important role in this process (Sánchez-Miguel et al., 2013; Legg et al., 2015; Dorsch et al., 2015; Dorsch, Smith, 2016). The child’s success in sports can be regarded as the parents’ merit too (Bailey et al., 2013). Parents can shape the child’s behaviour and give the right direction (Lavoi, Stellino, 2008; Arthur-Banning et al., 2009; Smoll et al., 2011). Parents are involved in disclosing and recognizing the child’s talent (Côté, Vierimaa, 2014), experienced joy from participation in sporting activities (McCarthy, Jones, 2007), understanding the athletic competence (Lee et al., 2008), competition anxiety and stress management experience (Gould et al. 2012), and development of psychological skills (MacNamara et al., 2010). Family relations is the context where answers to questions how and why participation in sporting activities changes the child’s thinking and behaviour. Such issues as the role of parents in this process and how they cope with this role, how sporting activities modify not only children’s but also parents’ personality orientations, behaviour and communication in the family. Research problem. The analysis of Lithuanian and foreign studies in the context of research topic revealed the following problem aspects: only very few athlete children can remain in sports without emotional and financial support from their family (O’Connor, 2011); not all parents are interested in sports and not all parents understand the importance of education through sports (O’Rourke et al., 2014); little is known about the influence of children’s participation in sports on parents, their motivation and experience (Wiersma, Fifer, 2008) little is known about the relationship between children’s participation in sport and their communication in the family and with peers. Therefore, there is a need to find out how parental involvement in youth sport could be strengthened and supported by recognizing the prospects of children and respecting parental experiences. Research object – educational interaction between parents and adolescents in sports. Research goal – reveal the educational interaction between parents and adolescents in sports. Research objectives: 1. Theoretically ground the educational interaction between parents and adolescents in sports. 2. Disclose the links between participation in sporting activities and attachment to parents and peers among athlete and non-athlete adolescents. 3. Disclose parental experiences related to the involvement into children’s sporting activities. 4. Disclose adolescents’ experiences related participation in sporting activities and relationship with parents. Expected outcomes of research (hypotheses): 1. A hypothesis that the relationship of athletic children with parents is more affectionate compared to that of non-athletic peers is proposed. 2. A hypothesis that adolescents with longer athletic experience are more attached to parents compared to adolescents with less athletic experience is proposed. Scientific novelty and practical significance of the dissertation The findings of scientific studies done in Lithuania and abroad on family involvement into adolescents’ activities are significant in terms of importance of attachment to parents in the period of adolescence. However, integrated research into children’s attachment to parents and peers in the context of sport is scarce, and no studies analysing parent–child experiences related to sport and revealing the educational interaction were done in Lithuania. Thus there is insufficient scientific information in this area. Therefore the scientific novelty of the dissertation is grounded on three levels: theoretical, empirical and practical. On the theoretical level this dissertation presents and substantiates the expanded concepts and interpretations of attachment to parents, attachment to peers and educational interaction between parents and children. Until now the constructs representing attachment to parents, attachment to peers, adolescents’ participation in sporting activities were analysed in scientific studies as separate issues. In this dissertation these constructs are united into an integral and continuous process of educational interaction between parents and children. A modern theoretical model of educational interaction between parents and children developed and theoretically grounded in this dissertation is significant for its scientific novelty. On the empirical level a quantitative survey of adolescents was conducted in this dissertation in order to analyse the importance of attachment and communication within the family in the period of adolescence. The experiences of parents stemming from the involvement in their children’s sporting activities and the experiences of adolescents related to the participation in sporting activities and relations with parents were disclosed in the qualitative survey. Both surveys were combined by a mixed method. These complementing surveys enabled to get a deeper and clearer understanding of parent–adolescent relations and attachment to family in the background of sporting activities. It is not only new approach in the context of Lithuanian research but also expands the available results of empirical research from foreign countries. This approach was used not only with the aim to find out how different variables related to sporting activities (attachment to family, attachment to peers, coaches’ input) acting together may add to the expression of positive educational interaction between parents and children in sporting activities. Another new thing is that for the first time in research literature adolescents’ attachment to parents is operationalized by two variables (attachment to parents and attachment to peers) reflecting their participation in sporting activities in order to find out, which variable is more important in the period of adolescence. On the practical level the results and conclusions of this dissertation may first of all help managers of sport clubs, organizations, school staff and educators to better understand how parents – by creating positive and supporting relations in sporting activities of their teenage children – may add to the achievement of the goals and objectives and in this way educate democratically minded youth ready to actively engage in social and public life. Secondly, this dissertation is relevant and has a practical value for the promotion of positive development of adolescents and responsible parenting. It opens a new view for professionals (coaches, sport educators, sport psychologists) working with athletes and their parents to the variety of experiences and through the knowledge gained increase the wellness of athletes and their parents. Thus, the clearer aspects of family attachment and experiences of athlete adolescents in their relations with parents may help to improve the skills not only of athlete adolescents but also of their parents and coaches. It should be noted that the findings of this dissertation were implemented in practice – a new intervention programme facilitating the parental involvement in children’s sporting activities has been developed. More information about this educational programme is available at www.lisinskiene.com. CONCLUSIONS 1. Scientific literature analysis revealed that parent–child educational interaction in sport is a bi-directional system. Parents influence children: they learn to be emphatic, self-disciplined, self-respected, they build communication skills, and plan their daily routine. Children influence parents because involvement in the child’s sport naturally changes parents and modifies their lives: parental daily routine alters, their cognition, knowledge and emotions change, their circle of contacts increases, interpersonal relations with the child, in the family, with other participants in sports also change. Marital relations of parents also alter through the child’s participation in sport, some parents start playing sports. Parent–child educational interaction in sport depends on financial and psychological support from parents, the child’s physical and emotional security, the coach’s positive education strategy, competence and authority. Educational interaction in sport is possible by more active attraction of parents into children’s sport; not making pressure on athletic children; motivating them to play sports through psychologically supporting environment; providing continuous training possibilities for coaches. 2. The investigation into the relationship between the adolescents’ sporting activities and attachment to family and peers revealed that athlete adolescents’ relations with parents are more intensively expressed in all scales: communication, trust and alienation compared to non-athlete adolescents. No relationship was found between adolescents’ participation in sport and attachment to peers. 3. Interviews with parents revealed the importance of the coach’s role for strengthening parent–child interaction in sport. Parent–child educational interaction in sport depends on the coaching strategy selected by the coach and the degree and form of parental involvement in children’s sport. Parents of athlete adolescents acknowledge the benefit of positive coaching and education strategy selected by the coach. This understanding confirms the importance of positive tri-dimensional interaction among parents, children and coaches. However, a phenomenon that has a negative effect on this interaction: parents find it difficult to admit the children’s growing attachment to coach. The contraposition to close relations between the child and the coach demonstrated by parents may encourage the alienation between parents and children in sport. 4. Interviews with athlete adolescents revealed that parental involvement into children’s sport is more important in the early period of sporting life and becomes less appreciable or unwelcome when children gain sporting experience. In the background of parent–child interrelations in sporting activities adolescents alienation from parents is more common than communication and trust. Alienation of older adolescents from parents in sports has several causes: growing children seek to be independent from their families in sports, some parents behave inappropriately in youth sport and embarrass their children. Interviews with athlete adolescents revealed that some parents demonstrate substandard behaviour in relation to their children, have no loyalty towards other participants of the sporting activity. However, financial support remains and important factor of parental support in all levels of sporting experience. The degree and form of parental involvement into children’s sport influences the effectiveness of parent–child educational interaction. The degree and form of involvement chosen by the parents are not always appropriate and encouraging, and not always acceptable to adolescents. |
