Development of the Parents' Motivations for Children's Participation in Sport Scale

The purpose of this study was to explore parents' motivations for encouraging their children to participate in youth sport and to develop a scale to measure the aforementioned motivators. The study was conducted in three phases. The first phase consisted of the development of items for the initial Parents' Motivations for Children's Participation in Sport Scale (PMCPSS). The second phase encompassed administering the PMCPSS to parents from a range of sports and analyzing that data through factor and item analyses. The third phase consisted of qualitative analysis and using the PMCPSS to examine differences in parental motivations. The sample consisted of 405 parents with children participating in the following youth sports: ice hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball, figure skating, volleyball, swimming, and lacrosse.;Exploratory factor analysis and item analyses revealed 8 factors labeled as: Life skills; Identification with the child/sport experience; Learn to perform and compete; Child Self-Acceptance; Physical and social development; Enjoyment and family bonding; Achievement and rewards; and Interpersonal skill development. In addition to the reliability coefficients for each factor, a coefficient alpha estimate was conducted to examine the entire scale's reliability. Based on the factor and item analysis, 65 items were retained and the PMCPSS had an overall alpha of .954 and the 8 factors accounted for 49.1% of the variance. Moreover, qualitative analysis of the open-ended responses supported the eight-factor structure of the PMCPSS. Independent-samples t tests were then run utilizing the 65 item PMCPSS to evaluate parental differences (mothers and fathers) on each of the eight factors.;This study builds upon previous research in youth sport with four significant contributions. First, it represents an initial step toward understanding why parents encourage their children to participate in youth sport. Second, the results indicate that parents' motivations for encouraging their children to participate in youth sport are multidimensional. Third, it led to the development of an instrument (the PMCPSS) that measures parents' motivations for encouraging their children to participate in youth sport that can be used for future research. Fourth, it demonstrates how the PMCPSS can be used in future research.