Youth sport parenting styles and practices.

The purpose of this study was to examine parenting styles and associated parenting practices in youth sport. Following a season-long period of fieldwork, primary data were collected via interviews with 56 parents and supplemented by interviews with 34 of their female children. Data analysis was guided by Grolnick's (2003) theory of parenting styles. Analyses produced five findings: (1) Autonomy-supportive parents provided appropriate structure for their children and allowed them to be involved in decision making. These parents were also able to read their children's mood and reported open bidirectional communication. (2) Controlling parents did not support their children's autonomy, were not sensitive to their children's mood, and tended to report more closed modes of communication. (3) In some families, there were inconsistencies between the styles employed by the mother and father. (4) Some parenting practices varied across different situations. (5) Children had some reciprocal influences on their parents' behaviors. These findings reveal information about the multiple social interactions associated with youth sport parenting.

Levels of social complexity and dimensions of peer experiences in youth sport.

We assessed young adolescent female soccer players' perceptions of their peer group experiences. Data were collected via interviews with 34 girls from two youth soccer teams (M age = 13.0 years). Following inductive discovery analysis, data were subjected to an interpretive theoretical analysis guided by a model of peer experiences (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006). Five categories of peer experiences were identified across three levels of social complexity. At the interaction level players integrated new members into the team and learned to interact with different types of people. At the relationship level players learned about managing peer conflict. At the group level a structure of leadership emerged and players learned to work together. Findings demonstrated interfaces between peer interactions, relationships, and group processes while also simplifying some apparently complex systems that characterized peer experiences on the teams studied.

Bilateral rearfoot asymmetry and anterior knee pain syndrome.

STUDY DESIGN: Single-session observational study. OBJECTIVES: To examine the magnitude and extent of asymmetry between right and left rearfoot angles in individuals who are asymptomatic versus symptomatic for anterior knee pain. BACKGROUND: Asymmetry in lower limb measures has been linked to the occurrence of knee pathologies, yet the practice of deriving unilateral rather than bilateral data and thereafter averaging the findings may play a role in obscuring the true nature of the rearfoot angle-knee pain relationship. METHODS AND MEASURES: A convenience sample of participants was recruited from the local university and business communities and a university-affiliated physiotherapy clinic. Eighty-on young adult males and females volunteered to participate in this study. Following an extensive screening process, including mandatory exclusion for a previous history of lower limb dysfunction or injury, data were collected from 75 individuals classified as asymptomatic (n = 50), unilaterally symptomatic (n = 11), or bilaterally symptomatic (n = 14) for anterior knee pain. Right and left rearfoot angles were goniometrically measured under static, weight-bearing conditions. RESULTS: No significant differences in mean right and left rearfoot angles by group or limb were observed. However, these mean values did not always reflect the true variation of data within the sample. Fifty-six percent of the individuals studied demonstrated a minimum of 4 degrees bilateral rearfoot angle difference, while for 20% of the sample this difference exceeded 7 degrees. Only a we yet statistically significant correlation existed between right and left rearfoot angles (r = 0.31, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Rearfoot angles in weight bearing are not bilaterally symmetric, and the magnitude and direction of the observed asymmetry does not appear to be indicative of whether an individual is asymptomatic or symptomatic for anterior knee pain.