Perceived Helicopter Parenting and Its Association with Coping Skills and Stress Appraisals in Turkish Youth Athletes

TUBA DENIZCI¹Rabia Hurrem OZDURAK SINGIN^2*Hakan KAYA¹Laurentiu-Gabriel Talaghir^3*Iconomescu Teodora Mihaela³Cristina Corina Bentea⁴

• ¹Hitit University, Institute of Graduate Studies, Department of Sport Sciences, ÇORUM, Türkiye
• ²Malatya Turgut Ozal University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Exercise and Sports, Malatya, Türkiye
• ³Dunarea de Jos University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Galati, Romania
• ⁴Department of Teacher Training, Universitatea Dunarea de Jos din Galati, Galați, Romania

Helicopter parenting (HP), characterized by excessive involvement, may influence young athletes' psychological skills. This study examined the relationship between perceived HP and athletic coping skills, as well as challenge and threat appraisals, in Turkish competitive youth athletes (aged 13-15, n = 398). Athletes completed the Perceived Helicopter Parenting Scale, Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28, and Challenge and Threat in Sport Scale at two different time points which are; a) during a training session and b) within 30 minutes before a competitive event. Of these, 302 athletes were grouped as having both parents with HP (n = 51) or regular parenting (RP, n = 251) attitudes. Athletes with HP parents reported significantly lower coping skills compared to those with RP parents (p < 0.05), except coachability. Before competitions, HP athletes exhibited lower challenge and higher threat appraisals (p < 0.05), with no differences during the training session. These findings suggest that perceived HP is associated with reduced coping skills and heightened threat appraisals in competitive contexts, highlighting the need for interventions to promote balanced parental involvement in youth sports.