FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Parental Influence Key to Adolescent Girls' Achievement in Sport and School

Newly released research by Bhalla and Weiss in the December, 2010 issue of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (RQES) demonstrates the variety of ways that parents can positively and negatively influence daughters from different cultures, in both their sport and academic life. 

This study extends previous research by simultaneously studying parental influence on adolescent girls from Anglo-Canadian and East Indian cultures in sport and academic domains. In this study, Bhalla and Weiss found that providing logistical support, giving informational feedback, following progress, being proud of accomplishments, and being role models were the ways in which parents positively influenced their daughters. Parents also influenced girls by providing emotional support in the sport domain, and by conveying high expectations and providing reinforcement for doing well in the academic sphere.  

Influential themes that emerged for both cultural groups in sport and academic life were more similar than they were different. With regard to differences, some Anglo Canadian girls believed their parents had no influence on their school experiences, whereas some East Indian girls felt parents wanted them to take advantage of options the parents did not have.

As communities become more multicultural, understanding similarities and differences among cultural groups can help parents, coaches, and teachers understand their impact on adolescent girls' achievement beliefs and behaviors in multiple areas of their lives. 

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For more information about this study, "A Cross-Cultural Perspective of Parental Influence on Female Adolescents' Achievement Beliefs and Behaviors in Sport and School Domains," please contact: Jennifer Bhalla (bhall009@umn.edu). 

RQES is the journal of the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). The most enduring research journal in the field of Kinesiology, RQES is a highly respected professional journal offering the latest research in the art and science of human movement studies.

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Contact:
Gayle Claman
research@aahperd.org
703-476-3415

The vision of AAHPERD is "Healthy People – Physically Educated and Physically Active!" Headquartered in Reston, VA, 25 miles west of Washington, DC, AAHPERD is the largest organization of professionals involved in physical education, physical activity, dance, school health and sport--all specialties related to achieving an active, healthy lifestyle. Its mission is to advance professional practice and promote research related to health and physical education, physical activity, dance and sport by providing its members with a comprehensive and coordinated array of resources, support and programs to help practitioners improve their skills to further the health and well-being of the American public. For more information, visit www.aahperd.org.