Between Support and Strain: How Perceived Parental Involvement Relates to Competitive Young Athletes’ Well-Being and Basic Psychological Needs

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Athlete well-being is a critical component of sustainable development in competitive sport. The social environment—particularly parental involvement—plays a pivotal role in shaping young athletes’ well-being. This study examined how perceived parental involvement relates to athlete well-being, with a specific focus on the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration. A total of 272 Swiss competitive athletes (aged 16–24) from various sport disciplines and performance levels completed online questionnaires assessing perceived parental involvement, basic psychological needs, and well-being. Mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro in RStudio with bootstrapping procedures. Results showed that praise and understanding, as well as active involvement, were positively associated with well-being. These associations were partially mediated by higher satisfaction and lower frustration of basic psychological needs. In contrast, directive behaviour was not significantly related to well-being, either directly or indirectly. The findings underscore the importance of parenting in promoting athlete well-being. They highlight the value of fostering need-supportive environments and provide guidance for parent education initiatives and sport policy aimed at enhancing positive developmental experiences in youth sport.