Purpose: Physical consequences of youth sport specialization have been established, yet the psychosocial demands remain largely unexplored. Hypothesis: Missing time with friends due to sport demands and frequent out-of-state travel is associated with sport specialization classification for each high school grade, and this association remains after stratifying for gender and sport level. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Methods:Methods: Six hundred sixty-eight (349 female) Division I and club sport athletes from a large midwestern university completed a retrospective survey assessing sport specialization classification and the travel and social demands of sport participation for each high school grade. To measure the social and travel demands of high school sport participation, participants were asked if they missed time with friends because of sports training and if they regularly traveled out-of-state for any sport, to which they responded "yes" or "no". Chi-square tests evaluated associations between frequent out-of-state travel and missing time with friends due to sport with sport specialization classification (low, moderate, high). Stratifications such as gender (male or female) and college sport level (club or Division I) were further tested in the analyses. Results: A significant association was found between specialization classification and missing time with friends in each high school grade (p-values < 0.001). Similarly, there was a significant association between specialization classification and frequent out-of-state travel in each high school grade (p-values < 0.001). Significant associations remained after stratifying by gender or college sport level. Conclusions: College athletes who reported themselves as highly specialized athletes in high school were more likely to miss time with friends and frequently travel out-of-state due to the demands of their sport compared to less specialized athletes, regardless of gender or college sport level. Findings from this study may help researchers and clinicians understand additional pressures specialized athletes may face that could lead to burnout and eventual sport drop out. This information can help clinicians encountering young athletes who are considering specialization, or have already specialized in sport, inform them and their parents of the potential consequences.
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