Understanding Parental Involvement in Irish Dance

Abstract

The overall aim of the present study was to understand how dancers’ perception and parents’ own perceptions of parents’ responsiveness and competence support were associated with dancers’ self-perceptions and thriving. In total, 64 dancers and 91 parents for a total of 52 matching dyads participated in the study. Dancers were aged 7–24 years, trained on average 4.17 times/weeks, and were involved in Irish dancing for an average of 9.71 years. Participants completed self-reported questionnaires assessing their perceived responsiveness, competence support, self-perceptions, and thriving. Main analyses consisted of mediations performed with structural equation modeling. Results demonstrate that dancers’ perceptions of their parents’ responsiveness and competence support are associated with their self-perceptions and thriving. Responsiveness and competence support of their second parent was more strongly associated with thriving than responsiveness and competence support of the main parent. Parents’ own perceptions of competence support were positively associated with dancers’ thriving.