Understanding parenting behavior in junior rugby league in Australia

Parents are key actors in all aspects of children’s involvement in organized sport. Further, parental behavior can have both adverse and positive effects on children’s enjoyment and retention in sport. In this study we collected epidemiological information to better understand parental behavior at junior sport and to identify the family, contextual, and sporting-related factors that contribute to parental reactions at children’s sporting events. Parents (N = 1418) of Australian Junior Rugby League players (aged 8–16 years) completed an anonymous online survey comprising questionnaire measures of parental spectator behavior and emotional reactions, parenting practices, emotional wellbeing and child behavior. Fathers (N = 401) were more likely than mothers (N = 1016) to report engaging in inappropriate spectator behavior and to have negative emotional reactions at their child’s rugby league games. Fathers also identified more highly with rugby league as a sport, placed more importance on winning and had more competitive attitudes, compared to mothers. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that ineffective and controlling parenting, parental emotional wellbeing, and competitive attitudes were key predictors of mothers’ inappropriate spectator behavior and their negative emotional reactions. For fathers, controlling parenting, competitive attitudes, and beliefs about winning, independently predicted their spectator behavior, while their emotional wellbeing and investment in rugby league were additional independent predictors of negative emotional reactions. These findings have important implications for designing intervention strategies that maximize positive parental involvement in junior sport, including the development of sports policy and universal interventions to address disruptive and counterproductive parental behavior.