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Parietti Dissertation.pdf (1.14 MB)

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Parental Influence on the Academic and Athletic Behaviors of Collegiate Student-Athletes

Parietti, Megan L
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436980147

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Kinesiology.
The tie between athletics and academics has grown strong at the collegiate level in the United States, and debate has arisen as to whether this relationship is a good one (Linver et al., 2009; Nusbaum, 2014). Student-athletes make up a unique population because their sport requirements are unlike what the average student must face (Gayles, 2009; Jolly, 2008). They also face conflicting roles of being a student or an athlete (Comeaux, 2010). The way they learn to deal with this conflict may have been influenced by how their parents raised them, and continue to be involved in their lives. Research has shown that parents often have an influence over their child’s athletic and academic behaviors, and it continues as they go to college (Baumrind, 2013; Stewart, 2008). However, little research has examined how parents influence collegiate student-athletes. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how parents influence their children’s athletic and academic behaviors once that child is a collegiate student-athlete. This dissertation utilized qualitative methods. The participants in this study included eight student-athletes: three football, two baseball, and three softball. Five academic advisors for athletics who worked with the same teams were also included. Each participant was asked to partake in two in-person interviews and complete a two-week journal. Thematic analyses were performed on the interview transcripts and journal entries. The themes found in this study were: interactions with parents; parental influence; parental influence factors; parental involvement; and pressure, support, and parenting styles. Triangulation, member checks, thick description, and negative case analysis were all used to provide validity and credibility to this dissertation. The major findings of this study followed the themes that were discovered. It was found that both the student-athletes and the academic advisors had frequent interactions with parents. The participants felt parents were very influential in regards to the athletic and academic behaviors of the student-athletes through how they raised their children and were currently involved in their lives. Parental influence was impacted by factors that included: age of child, parent gender, child gender, sport, marital status of parents, the education level of parents, and the parent’s aspirations for their child. The participants explained parents were very involved in their child’s life, and the advisors shared that sometimes the parents were overinvolved. The participants felt that as a whole parents were very supportive. The student-athletes thought their parents rarely utilized pressuring techniques. For the most part, the student-athletes indicated that their parents used the authoritative parenting style, and that tied to their feelings of being supported by their parents. Overall, the findings in the current study supported and added to the previous research on how parents influence their collegiate student-athlete children. There are practical implications from this study for those who work with student-athletes, student-athletes, and their parents. Advisors and coaches can utilize the knowledge of how parents influence their children during the recruiting process and when they work with student-athletes. Student-athletes and parents can benefit from better understanding their relationship.
Donna Pastore (Advisor)
Susan Sutherland (Committee Member)
Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan (Committee Member)
198 p.
Families and Family Life; Sports Management
Parental influence, student athlete, parental involvement, academic advisor, pressure, support, tripartite parenting

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Parietti, M. L. (2015). Parental Influence on the Academic and Athletic Behaviors of Collegiate Student-Athletes [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436980147

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Parietti, Megan. Parental Influence on the Academic and Athletic Behaviors of Collegiate Student-Athletes. 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436980147.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Parietti, Megan. "Parental Influence on the Academic and Athletic Behaviors of Collegiate Student-Athletes." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436980147

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1436980147
14,106
© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.