The present study examined the associations between physical activity, screen time and mental health in youth hockey parents according to their child’s level of specialization. Significant differences in emotional well-being and screen time were found, with parents of early specializers reporting lower emotional well-being and greater screen time compared to parents of late specializers. These differences had large effect sizes. Differences in psychological well-being were also found with parents of early specializers reporting lower psychological well-being than parents of late specializers, though this did not reach statistical significance. Finally, specialization and physical activity were found to be significant positive predictors of mental health in hockey parents. This study makes a significant contribution to youth sport literature as it is the first to consider physical activity levels, screen time and mental health of youth hockey parents according to their child’s level of specialization.
In support of the hypothesis for the first research question, findings of this study revealed that parents of early specializers engaged in more screen time compared to late specializers. This may be explained by previous research that indicated youth sport involvement has an influence on parents own sport consumption [9, 35]. That is, parents with children who are involved in sport, are more likely to watch sports on television, listen to sports on the radio, and/or look at sport statistics on the internet [9]. Furthermore, it has been suggested that greater sport involvement, such as with early specializers, is indicative of greater sport consumption by both athletes and their parents [9]. Moreover, previous research has purported that parents are often bored while waiting before, during and after their child’s sport, at which time they may engage in screen time on their cellphones [36]. Screen time is an important health behaviour to consider among hockey parents, as the negative implications of screen time are increasingly being highlighted as an area of global health concern (e.g., increased risk of obesity) [27].
Contrary to our hypothesis, physical activity levels did not differ significantly between parents of early specializers and late specializers. However, upon further examining the data, it was found that all participants were classified as insufficiently active during the hockey season. It may be that hockey parents in both developmental pathways are prioritizing their youth’s sport involvement, at the expense of their own physical activity pursuits. Given that physical activity has been shown to have both physical and mental health benefits, including reducing the risk of chronic illnesses (e.g., heart disease, diabetes and depression) [37], these results are concerning for sport parents’ health.
In terms of mental health, results indicated that parents of early specializers reported lower emotional well-being than parents of late specializers. This finding aligns with previous research that outlines as the number of sports a child participates in decreases, the amount of emotional support required increases, which may negatively influence the emotional well-being of parents who are providing this support [18, 38]. Emotional support may involve having motivational pre-game talks or post-game talks after a tough game with athletes. Emotional support from parents has been linked to an athlete`s well-being and persistence in sport [18]; however, this support may have an influence on a parent’s own well-being. In addition to greater demands for emotional support, parents have also reported experiencing negative emotions as a result their child’s sport outcomes, such as feeling stressed, frustrated and disappointed [21]. These emotions are likely heightened among parents who are more involved with their child’s sport, such as in higher levels of participation (i.e., early specialization).
Interestingly, social well-being was not significantly different between groups. Although parents of early specializers might not have as much time to socialize with their non-hockey friends, they are still interacting with hockey parents at practices, games, and tournaments frequently throughout the season [39]. In fact, sport parenting has been previously described as being social in nature [13]. Indeed, Wiersma and Fifer [19] conducted focus groups with sport parents and found that one of the main joys reported by parents was interacting with other parents.
In support of the hypothesis for the second research question, results of the hierarchal linear regression indicated that physical activity positively predicted mental health in hockey parents, and specialization played a role, wherein late specialization predicted better mental health. This is concerning because youth are now specializing in sport at younger ages [1]. Indeed, there were a greater number of early specializer parents in this study, as early specialization is becoming increasingly popular among youth athletes (blind for review, year). Our findings are in line with previous research outlining the negative impact of sport participation on the mental health of youth sport parents [15, 21]. Parents of early specializers tend to be more involved in their child’s sport, investing a significant amount of time, money and emotional support, which may cause their mental health to suffer [15, 18].
An additional concern is that all parents in this study were classified as insufficiently active. Previous research suggests that parents tend to prioritize their children’s sport pursuits, at the expense of their own healthy practices [40]. The sacrifices that parents are making in terms of their healthy behaviours may have a direct influence not only on their physical health, but their mental health as well. Indeed, previous research widely supports the psychological benefits of physical activity [23, 41]. This highlights the need for hockey parents to find creative ways to incorporate physical activity into their busy schedules. For example, planning a workout while their child is getting dressed for a game/practice, and/or joining a walking group with the other hockey parents, are some strategies to consider [39].
Strengths, Limitations, and Future Directions
This study makes important contributions to youth sport literature, responding to calls for empirical research to investigate how the youth hockey experience affects individuals within the family unit beyond the youth athlete [15]. This study was also the first to examine mental health and health behaviours of parents between specialization levels within the youth hockey context. The current study must also be considered in light of the limitations. First, this study was cross-sectional in nature and parents relied on recall for their average amount of physical activity and screen time. Future research should focus on longitudinal designs where parents log and/or report their health behaviour and mental health status throughout their child’s hockey season. Qualitative research may also be useful to gain further insight into other factors which might influence health behaviours and mental health during the hockey season and during the off-season (e.g., work, weather, other sport involvement). Second, all participants within this study were parents of male youth hockey players in Canada; therefore, future research is warranted to understand if similar results emerge from parents within different contexts (i.e., geographic location, female youth hockey, other sports). Finally, the sample size distribution between groups was unequal with fewer parents of late specializers involved in the study. Future research should work to gather data from a larger sample, which would allow for more comprehensive analyses to be conducted. This may allow researchers to bring in the recreational pathway, outlined by Côté et al. [12], which would provide more insight into parents of non-specializers.