Cardiovascular and Energy Requirements of Parents Watching Their Child Compete: A Pilot Mixed-Methods Investigation

Purpose: Researchers have extensively documented the cardiovascular and metabolic demands for sports participation. To date, researchers have ignored the same requirements of competitor’s parents. Hence, our purpose was to document parent cardiovascular and metabolic responses to watching their child compete while also paying particular attention to their thoughts before and after the competition. Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) drove interpretation of parent thoughts. Material: Parents wore a device, made by Firstbeat Technologies, which continuously monitored heart rate. The parents wore the device the night before the competition to be acclimated to the technology and during the event until later in the day. Parents also completed two open-ended questions, one before the tournament and one


Introduction
Researchers have extensively documented the physiological demands of competitive sports participation. Sports scientists have been able to increase documentation with the advent and continual upgrading of wearable technologies. For instance, these sports scientists have documented the physiological responses of athletes competing in team sports such as handball [1], and soccer [2]. Likewise, they have published on the physiological requirements in individual sports such as judo [3], table tennis [4], and hard and clay surface tennis [5]. Researchers have even examined the physiological responses of top-level European basketball referees [6]. From this body of literature, sports scientists researched and provided training programs that best prepare athletes and referees for the physiological demands of many sports.
Though indeed, the athletes and referees' physiological states are most important for bettering training with the goal of performance enhancement as well as injury prevention, there are others involved in the competitive process, namely spectators. Indeed, in youth sport, the spectators relate to the youth participants -namely parents. Researchers have reported that parents serve a vital role in athlete development [7], a source of youth enjoyment [8][9][10], and express a broad range of verbal reactions during sporting contests [11][12]. Given the importance of parents to the youth sports experience, it is surprising that researchers have not examined the physiological responses and thus demands of spectating their children.
In addition to uniquely measuring parent physiology while watching their child compete, we sought to gain insight into their expectations and reactions to their child's participation in this prestigious event. For decades, researchers have examined the dichotomous and contemporary variants of Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) in competitive sport. Large-scale meta-analyses on perceived goal orientation climate [13] and the individual orientation perspectives [14][15][16][17] exist. AGT helps in describing, explaining, and predicting behavior, thoughts, and emotions in the competitive sports environment.
The key to this investigation is the tie between AGT and physiological reactions as documented recently [18].
From the dichotomous perspective, the two dominant climates and individual orientations are task or mastery and ego or performance. Improvement motivates individuals endorsing or supporting a task or mastery orientation. Conversely, an ego-oriented person or climate strives to win and is motivated to attain high normative standards of ability. Meta-analytic of the dichotomous AGT framework from the climate [13] and individual [17] are consistent in that the task orientation is consistently small to moderate in meaningfulness correlated with intrinsic motivation, positive emotions, and such desired achievement context variables. The ego orientation or climate is routinely viewed less favorably in youth sports context is in reality consistently unrelated or at best PEDAGOGICS PSYCHOLOGY modestly related to undesirable achievement correlates (i.e., negative emotions). Hogue and colleagues [18] experimentally demonstrated that ego-involving climates caused heightened salivary cortisol response in middle school children. They interpreted salivary cortisol as indicating higher stress because of the ego environment.
When thinking of actual sports performance, only Lochbaum and Gottardy [15] have summarized the AGT literature and sports performance. Their quantitative review concerned Elliot's [19][20] approach-avoidance framework. While the dichotomous task and ego distinction relate to how competence is defined, the approach-avoidance dimension relates to how competence is valenced. An approach valence indicates a behavior initiated by a positive or desirable event or possibility such as excited to improve (mastery-approach goal) or win (performance-approach goal). In contrast, an avoidance valence indicates a behavior initiated by an adverse or undesirable event or possibility such as hoping to avoid getting worse (mastery-avoidance goal) or getting beat (performance-avoidance goal).
Results based on Lochbaum and Gottardy [15] random effects model indicated that the performance goal contrast (i.e., being more excited to win than hoping to avoid losing) had the most substantial facilitative impact on performance (effect size of .73) followed by the mastery and performance-approach goals. Both of the avoidance goals performance and mastery had small nonsignificant and detrimental effects on performance. Thus, it is possible that performers perceive a performance or an ego climate as stressful though also beneficial to the real outcome. Indeed, in youth sports, parents are key players in creating climate perceptions.

Purpose, materials, and methods
Our purpose was to document the physiological state of parents watching their child participate in a highly competitive environment, the Croatian National Championship while trying to gain insight into the parents' expectations and reaction to their child's experience. Based on the AGT framework, the literature base, and the competitive environment, parent expectations and responses to their son's competitive experience were a prior interpreted within an AGT context. We expected a higher expectation of winning to be associated with a heightened physiological response. Two parents, a mother, and father of the same adolescent were the participants in this pilot investigation. The mother at the time of the data collection was 41 years of age and 158 cm tall, 60 kg in body weight. The father was 44 years of age and 175 cm tall, 78 kg in body weight. Both parents self-reported being moderately physically active and supportive of their son's National Team aspirations.
Parents self-reported their year of birth, height, and weight. To measure the physiological processes involved in spectating, both parents wore the Firstbeat Technologies Bodyguard 2 device (https://www.firstbeat. com/en/wellness-services/individual-wellbeing/). The Bodyguard 2 records heart rate at 1 ms intervals (1000 Hz) at a sampling rate of 12.5 Hz. The Bodyguard 2 measured the participants' R-R intervals. The Firstbeat analytics allow for calculation of oxygen consumption and energy expenditure that were important for this investigation.
In addition, the device is sensitive to movement data (i.e., steps). The company designed the Bodyguard 2 for long-term uninterrupted measurements with a 20-day storage capacity with only little needs for recharging. The participants as would anyone wearing the device attached it to their skin with two chest electrodes.
To gain a better understanding of the physiological responses, both parents completed two open-ended questions. The first question concerned their expectations for the day. Specifically, the question was "Please give a short description of your expectations regarding today's competition." Parents answered this question 2 hours before their son's first judo fight. The second question concerned a retrospective report on the entire competition. The exact question was "Please describe your day, give us some thoughts about today's competition, and describe how you felt during today's competition." The parents completed this second open-ended question 4 hours after their son's last fight.
The article's second author purposefully approached the two parents as potential participants. The second author knew that their son would be competing at a National Championship event. Given the son's competition history, the second author anticipated that he would have many fights and that the parents would be engaged (i.e., attending the competition). The son competed in five judo fights (won, lost, won, won, lost) from 9:38 am until 12:20 pm. The last fight was a bronze medal fight, which he lost and thus finished fifth. The second and third author obtained University of Zagreb human subject approval. Both parents consented to participate. The second author provided each parent with a Bodyguard 2 device, electrodes, and the wear instructions. Parents wore the device continuously from 20:00 pm the night before the competition until 17:00 pm the day of the tournament. The second author collected the technology, and uploaded the data directly to the Firstbeat SPORTS software. As previously mentioned, the parents completed two openended questionnaires. The parents wrote their answers directly into a Google form document. The second authors texted the link to both parents.
The research utilized a mixed-method approach. As described by Creswell [21], a mixed-method approach involves both qualitative and quantitative data that the researcher integrates. The notion is a more in-depth analysis of the research topic is accomplished compared to just one of the approaches [22]. In our research, parent physiological reactions were quantitative data and parent expectations and responses to the day were qualitative data.
For the two open-ended questions, the second author, and a colleague individually translated the written answers into English. Though qualitative interpretive approaches exist, the research team read the responses and discussed the themes present. As mentioned in the introduction, the 06 research team a priori decided on an AGT focus.

Results of the research
Quantitative data. Figure 1 (father) and 2 (mother) are the Firstbeat Technologies printouts of the parent heart rates and energy expenditures. We placed the markers (F1, F2, etc.) and results (W, L) for each fight on the graphs. Visually, it is clear that the mother's highest reactions and energy expenditures were during the fights whereas the father's most significant reactions and energy expenditures were after each fight. The second fight was the most demanding on both parents because they had to wait to see if their son could get back into the competition based on his opponent's next fight. This result also meant that he could no longer enter the finals nor win the gold or silver medal at the National Championships. In total, he had five fights from which he won three and lost two. The second lost match was the fight for the bronze medal so at the end he finished in the fifth place.
At no time did the parents run around or engage in any intentional physical activity. The data presented relate to speculation only. As found in Table 1 and based on age-predicted maximal heart rate, we provided the heart rate zones for differing levels of cardiovascular physical activity. The mother and father's results were different as the father's heart rate activity was sufficient to be rated as aerobic based training (i.e., minutes accumulated of at least 30 percent of predicted maximal oxygen consumption). The father amassed 50 minutes of classified moderate-tovigorous physical activity. On the other hand, the mother's heart rate patterns were insufficient for a training effect. The mother gathered 24 minutes of classified moderate physical activity. Figure 3 (father) and Figure 4 (mother) provide a breakdown of energy sources, carbohydrates or  Qualitative data. The first open-ended question asked was "Please describe your expectations for today's competition." The father's answer was short. It was "Victory" whereas the mother wrote more.
I know that my son is capable, that he can and wants to do it. I expect that he shows that and that his confidence will be at that level so, in the end, he is satisfied with what he achieved.
The second question asked was "Please shortly describe how your day went, describe your thoughts about today's competition and describe you felt during it." The father's response was a series of descriptive words and was as follows: It was Saturday, it was a hard day, without rest, uptight and intense. Competition: stifling, hard chairs, stinking   Again as with the first open-ended question, the mother wrote a good deal more than her husband. I enjoy spending time with my kids, and I love when I am involved in their sports activities, like today. I am very excited because I know that my son wants to win a medal and I also have the same expectations. At the end of the competition, I am sad because I think my son is sad. I try to hide my emotions because I am afraid that it will make him even sadder. When we came home, I closed myself in the bathroom pretending I was doing the laundry, cried and then calmed myself. Afterward, we all went to a restaurant where we talked a lot, got angry, made up and then decided we are ready for new battles.
From an AGT perspective, the father expressed a strong ego goal orientation with his emphasis and reflections on wanting to win and being disappointed in his son's losing. Though the mother's open-ended answer before the event seemed to convey a task goal orientation, her son doing his best, she expressed her expectation was congruent with her son, to win a medal. This expectation again was the only one the father expressed.

Discussion
This mix-methods approach with physiological data is unique to the literature. Dorsch and colleagues [11] used a mixed-methods approach with many sources of qualitative data and quantitative observational data. We sought to expand the research base by quantitatively documenting parent cardiovascular and metabolic parameters in and around their son's competition. Given physiological reactions without context are without meaning and open to a great deal of interpretation, we qualitatively investigated before and after the sporting event the mother and father's expectations and reactions to their son's competition. The cardiovascular and thus metabolic patterns differed remarkably and consistently between father and mother. The father reacted to the match outcome whereas the mother was engaged in the fight and seemingly physiologically disengaged between fights. The qualitative answers provided clues into the differing cardiovascular patterns. When combined, the quantitative and qualitative results are worthy of discussion and future lines of research.
Though biased in that two of the three authors favors AGT across our careers, AGT fit the open-ended responses [19][20]. Both the father and mother at some point expressed winning as the goal or expectation. The father indeed expressed winning as the only goal, and this perspective seemed to dictate his physiological reactions. The father's results are in line with Hogue and her colleagues' [18] experimental investigation of the impact of goal climate on middle school students' stress response. An ego-involving climate leads to greater salivary measured cortisol in the middle school-aged participants. The mother interpreted her goal to be congruent with her son. As mentioned in the introduction, the research community far too often paints the performance-or ego-orientation as detrimental. The negative emotions expressed are consistent with meta-analytic research. Though small in meaningfulness, researchers have reported that the ego goal and ego climate correlate with the expressed negative emotions. The negative feelings seemed in direct response to losing. Asking the parents their reactions between each fight would help understand the full pattern of emotions across the competition experience.
As with any investigation, limitations exist. Given our research was a pilot in nature, the main limitation is sample size though the study itself seems unique to the youth sports literature. This restriction provides future research directions. For instance, a more substantial sample or repeated measures design with the same parents or set of parents across many competitions will aid this research topic. The event itself was a major competition and potential stepping stone for the adolescent. He needed a third-place finish to continue on his positive trajectory within the Croatian National Judo system. He, unfortunately, did not achieve the bronze medal. Whether the parent, especially the father's, cardiovascular and metabolic patterns are consistent could only be answered with repeated measurements across competitions of varying importance. Future research looking to capture the adolescents' expectations will aid in better understanding of parents' expectations and post-competition reactions.

Conclusions
1. The power of wearable technology influences future research directions. In the present investigation, the parents wore the Firstbeat Body Guard 2 device. This device provides a great deal of information concerning stress, sleep, physical activity, and recovery. Wearing the device for several days before as well as after the competitions is a potential area of future research.
2. We can envision this line of research moving from descriptive such as describing parent and even child sleep and stress patterns leading up to competition and the days afterward to randomized interventions for sleep and stress management. We believe that a mix-methods approach should guide future research as it has in the past (e.g., Dorsch et al., 2015).
3. The used technology in this pilot investigation provided unique data. Importantly, the participants reported no lifestyle barriers to wearing the technology or complaints about the technology being a nuisance.
4. The open-ended questions provided insight and complimented the wearable technology data. Incorporating qualitative methodology is vital for future wearable technology research measuring stress, sleep, and recovery analytics.