Perceived Parental Engagement and Coach Support by Adolescents Within Organized Sportsand the Association with Positive Psychological and Behavioral Outcomes

Abstract: The aim of this study was to better understand how the supportive role from coaches and engagement from parents is associated the behavioral and psychological outcomes for adolescents participating in organized sports. Behavioral adjustments were defined as youth delinquency and psychological outcomes as depressive symptoms and subjective well-being. The data used in this study were from the Youth and Sports (YeS) project, of which an analytical sample of N=421 7th graders participating in organized sports was selected. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis showed that 7.5% of parental engagement and coach support explained variance in adolescents’ subjective well-being and 3.4% explained depressive symptoms. The same pattern was not found in delinquent behavior, however, we did find an interaction effect, where coach support moderates the link between parents’ engagement and delinquency. Therefore, results suggest that adolescents participating in organized sports with engaged parents and support from their coach displayed better behavioral and psychological adjustments in adolescence.