North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Conference
June 2012, Honolulu, HI, United States of America
Following in their footsteps? Sport expertise and parental participation in sport and physical activity
Melissa J. Hopwood 1, Clare MacMahon 1 & Joseph Baker 2 , Damian Farrow 1,3
1. Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
2. York University, Toronto, Canada
3. Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia
The family has been identified as a critical influence on sport expertise development,
with much of the research in this area focusing on the provision of resources and
the changing roles of the family throughout athletes' careers. Although associations
between parent's and children's participation in physical activity have been explored,
little is known about the associations between parent participation in sport and
physical activity and the development of sport expertise. As part of a larger investigation
of sport expertise development, patterns of participation in sport and physical activity
were examined for the parents of 229 athletes from Australia and Canada (mean age
= 23.28 ± 4.79) via completion of the Developmental History of Athletes Questionnaire.
Athletes represented 36 different sports and three skill levels -
To cite this presentation:
Hopwood, M.J., MacMahon, C., Baker, J., & Farrow, D (2012). Following in their footsteps? Sport expertise and parental participation in sport and physical activity. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 34, S48.
The Pathways to the Podium Research Project
Publications and Presentations
An investigation of the development of sport expertise
Pathways to the Podium Research Project