The purpose of this 12-month intervention program was to examine parent–child relationship changes within the sports context. A qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis was used for the study design. Ten families consented to in-depth interviews. The participants were 10 youth sport parents who had one child each aged 5–6 years. The intervention program involved the participation of all the parents and children. The program integrated psychological, educational, and sports skills into pre-organized sports training sessions. The study results revealed that the intervention program had a positive impact on the parent–child relationship in the sports context. Additionally, the study results suggest that parental involvement in the intervention program positively affected parent–child attachment, the quality of interpersonal relationships between the parent and the child, and effective parenting strategies. Future intervention programs should include both parent and children dyads.

The interpersonal relationship among the coach, athlete, and parent (C-A-P) in youth sports is a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The evaluation of such interpersonal relationship becomes an important factor in trying to understand the overall youth sports environment. The purpose of this study was to begin the development of a questionnaire to assess the coach-athlete–parent interpersonal relationships in youth sports. To achieve our purpose, two qualitative studies were conducted. In the first qualitative study, 136 research participants completed an online questionnaire asking for statements concerning the C-A-P based on an extensive literature review. In the second phase, a follow up phenomenological study design was conducted. For the phenomenological study, 30 participants (10 coaches, 10 athletes, and 10 youth sports parents) completed in-depth interviews. Based on both qualitative study results, the following three themes emerged: group processes, motivation, and over-involvement. The two qualitative investigations revealed themes and 48 potential questions to be used in developing a C-A-P questionnaire in quantifying the C-A-P results.