Evaluating Adult Decision-Making Modifiers in Support of Youth Contact-Sport Participation

Context Nearly 44 million youth participate in organized youth sports programs in the United States each year. However, approximately 25% of parents have considered removing their children from sports due to the fear of concussion. Objective To determine which adult decision-making modifiers (eg, gender, educational attainment, career type) influenced support for youth contact-sports participation. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Midwestern university and medical center. Patients or Other Participants Convenience sample of staff and faculty (N = 5761; 73.9% female) from 2017 to 2018. Main Outcome Measure(s) Support for youth contact-sports participation using multivariate binary logistic regression to calculate odds ratios and 95% CIs. Results The sample was split between adults with children (AWCs; n = 3465, age = 45.39 ± 13.27 years, 76.72% female) and adults without children (AWOCs; n = 2296, age = 30.84 ± 9.01 years, 70.26% female). Among AWCs, those who obtained a bachelor's degree or higher were more likely to support contact-sports participation. Females were more inclined to allow all contact sports, specifically football (odds ratio [OR] = 2.22; 95% CI = 1.64, 3.01) and ice hockey (OR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.42, 2.78). Overall, previous adult sport participation, increasing number of children, and child gender were significant modifying variables in greater support of youth contact-sports participation among AWCs (P < .001). Among AWOCs, previous sport participation in football (OR = 3.27; 95% CI = 2.14, 4.87), ice hockey (OR = 4.26; 95% CI = 2.23, 8.17), or soccer (OR = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.48, 3.54) increased the likelihood of an adult supporting contact-sports participation. Lastly, all adults were less inclined to support a daughter participating in any contact sport than a son. Conclusions These results reveal adult- and child-specific variables that may influence youth contact-sports participation. These decisions may be developed through the lens of certain gender role beliefs and may lead adults to perceive certain sports as more appropriate for sons than daughters.