Parental Involvement in Sport: Mother- and Father-Initiated Motivational Climates and Their Associations with Grit in Youth Male Team Sport Players

This study examined the relationship between perceived mother- and father-initiated motivational climate and grit in youth male team sports players. A total of 336 players from five team sports (basketball, football, handball, volleyball, and water polo) completed the Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate Questionnaire-2 and the Short Grit Scale. Multiple linear regressions showed that parental motivational climates explained between 8% and 16% of the variance in grit dimensions (R² = 0.08-0.16, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Specifically, ego-oriented climates (worry-conducive and success-without-effort) was positively associated with consistency of interests (β = 0.20-0.27, <i>p</i> < 0.01), whereas mastery-oriented climates (learning/enjoyment) were negatively associated with this dimension (β = -0.09 to -0.26, <i>p</i> < 0.05). Conversely, both learning/enjoyment- and worry-conducive climates were positively associated with perseverance of effort (β = 0.26-0.37, <i>p</i> < 0.001), while success-without-effort climates had negative associations (β = -0.16, <i>p</i> < 0.01). When analyses were performed by sport, significant models were found for basketball, football, and volleyball (R² = 0.07-0.34, <i>p</i> < 0.05), but not for handball or water polo. These findings underscore the differentiated and context-dependent associations of mothers' and fathers' motivational climates on the two dimensions of grit, providing evidence-based insights for parents, coaches, and sport organizations aiming to promote perseverance and long-term engagement in youth sport. By fostering appropriate motivational climates, stakeholder efforts towards more adaptive motivational climates may be tentatively associated with higher grit indicators, thereby contributing to developmental and psychological outcomes relevant to sustained participation in sport.