The high intensive practice in sport is not without psychological risk for the child and the adolescent (stress, internalized troubles, burn out, eating disorders, doping…). Anyway, unless there is some evidence of psychological difficulties, which are associated with high intensive practice, the knowledge is still limited, notably concerning the effects of parental influence on the young athletes «mental health».

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of parental over-involvement on youth athletes’ mental health through anxiety.

The sample population consisted of 201 children between 7- and 11-years-old and their parents (237). The children practice competitive tennis and were representative of the best regional and national athletes from France. They responded to questionnaires focused on the assessment of mental health (anxiety) and perceived parental sport over-involvement. Parents responded to questionnaires on parental sport over-involvement practices.

The results of the linear regression analysis showed that perceived parental sport over-involvement predicted significantly anxiety symptoms among elite junior tennis (β=0.23, P<0.05).

The results highlight the issues associated with parental over-involvement regarding children mental health as they are enrolled in a context of sports excellence. Preventive actions could be carried out in an educational perspective to health in order to prevent the effects associated with disease pressure success.