Coach autonomy support and quality of sport engagement in young soccer players.

Based on the self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), this study tested a model of the assumed sequential relationships between perceived autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, self-determined motivation, and enjoyment/boredom. The hypothesized mediational roles of psychological need satisfaction and self-determined motivation were also studied. In a sample of 370 young male soccer players, path analysis results offered support for the proposed model. Total mediation was supported in the case of the psychological need satisfaction in the relationship between autonomy support and self-determined motivation, and partial mediation for self-determined motivation in the lin…

Motivational climate, approach-avoidance achievement goals and well-being in young soccer players

Tests based on achievement goal theory (dichotomous model, Nicholls, 1989; and 2 a 2 model, Elliot and McGregor, 2001) were conducted on a model to analyse the hypothesised relationships between perceived motivational climate, perceived competence, approach and avoidance (mastery and performance) goals, and positive well-being indices (i. e., life satisfaction and self-esteem). A total of 370 young male soccer players between the ages of 12 and 16 took part in the study (M=14.77). The results showed that perceptions of a task-involvement climate predicted the adoption of mastery approach and mastery avoidance goals, whereas a perceived ego-involving climate was related to performance-approa…

Can High Group Cohesion Be Harmful?

High group cohesion is considered to be beneficial and lead to better performance. This qualitative case study describes a case in which high social cohesion led to a deterioration in a team's performance. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships between performance in a team sport and social psychological group phenomena such as cohesion, conformity, groupthink, and group polarization. The participants were members of a junior-league ice-hockey team, consisting of three adult coaches and 22 players aged 15 to 16 years. The data were derived from an interview with the main coach, continuous observation by the principal researcher, and a diary based on observations …

A classification of motivation and behavior change techniques used in self-determination theory-based interventions in health contexts

While evidence suggests that interventions based on self-determination theory have efficacy in motivating adoption and maintenance of health-related behaviors, and in promoting adaptive psychological outcomes, the motivational techniques that comprise the content of these interventions have not been comprehensively identified or described. The aim of the present study was to develop a classification system of the techniques that comprise self-determination theory interventions, with satisfaction of psychological needs as an organizing principle. Candidate techniques were identified through a comprehensive review of self-determination theory interventions and nomination by experts. The study…

Intentions to drop-out of youth soccer: A test of the basic needs theory among European youth from five countries

Research arising from self-determination theory (SDT; Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268) indicates that the quality of the social interactions between athletes and coaches, and athletes' ensuing psychological responses, are critical determinants of intentions to drop out of youth sport. Little is known regarding whether these processes hold across countries. Grounded in SDT, this study tested the invariance of a model predicting youth sport dropout across five European countries. Seven thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine grassroots players (6641 males, 1020 fem…

Psicothema

Resumen tomado de la publicación Propiedades psicométricas de la versión española de la Escala de Conductas Controladoras del Entrenador en el contexto deportivo. Antecedentes: el objetivo del trabajo consistió en traducir al castellano y examinar las propiedades psicométricas de la versión española de la Escala de Conductas Controladoras del Entrenador (CCBS) en futbolistas varones. La CCBS fue diseñada para medir la percepción que los deportistas tienen del estilo interpersonal controlador del entrenador, desde la Teoría de la Autodeterminación. Método: el Estudio 1 analizó la estructura factorial utilizando el Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio (AFC) y ofreció evidencia de validez discrimi…

Predictores socio-contextuales y motivacionales de la intención de continuar participando: Un análisis desde la SDT en danza. (Social-contextual and motivational predictors of intentions to continue participation: A test of SDT in dance).

En el marco de la Teoria de la Autodeterminacion (Deci y Ryan, 1985; 2000), se estudiaron los predictores socio-contextuales y motivacionales de la intencion de seguir practicando danza, y el papel del burnout en estas relaciones, poniendo a prueba dos modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. Los participantes, 197 bailarines vocacionales, completaron los cuestionarios con las variables clave de interes. Los resultados revelaron que las percepciones del apoyo a la autonomia ofrecidas por el profesor de danza actuo como predictor positivo de la motivacion autonoma (motivacion intrinseca, regulacion integrada y regulacion identificada) y como predictor negativo de la motivacion controlada (regula…

Motivational climate and goal orientations as predictors of perceptions of improvement, satisfaction and coach ratings among tennis players

One purpose of this work was to study the relationship of goal orientations and the perceived motivational climate created by the coach in relation to 219 competitive Spanish tennis players': a) perceived improvement in different facets of the game, b) satisfaction with their competitive results, overall level of play, and coach, and c) ratings of their coach. The second purpose was to examine whether the dependent variables were best predicted by the perceived situationally emphasized goal structure created by the coach and/or the athletes' dispositional goal perspective. Intermediate (N=70), advanced (N=124), and professional (N=25) level players completed Spanish versions of the TEOSQ an…

Situational and dispositional goals as predictors of perceptions of individual and team improvement, satisfaction and coach ratings among elite female handball teams

Abstract Objectives. To examine the relationship of the perceived motivational climate created by the coach and dispositional goal orientations of elite female handball players' (a) perceived individual and team improvement in different facets of the game; (b) satisfaction with their own and the team's game; and (c) ratings of the coach. A second aim was to study whether the dependent variables were best predicted by the perceived motivational climate created by the coach and/or the players' dispositional goal orientations. Design. Cross-sectional. Methods: Elite female handball players (n=181) from 14 teams participating in a national handball competition in Spain completed the Spanish mea…

Measurement invariance of the Behavioural Regulation in Sport Questionnaire when completed by young athletes across five European countries

The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the factorial validity of the Behavioural Regulation Sport in Questionnaire (BRSQ) when completed by young soccer players in the Promoting Adolescent Physical Activity (PAPA) project (9-15 years old) in 5 European countries (France: n = 1248, Greece: n = 1507, Norway: n = 1397, Spain: n = 2245, and England: n = 1372) and (2) test the measurement invariance of its latent factors across these 5 countries.First, we tested the exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) factor analyses, allowing cross-loadings between factors, against the traditional independent clusters confirmatory factor analysis model (ICM-CFA), with all cross-loadings constrain…

Promoting Adolescent health through an intervention aimed at improving the quality of their participation in Physical Activity (PAPA): Background to the project and main trial protocol

International audience; Funded by the European Commission, the Promoting Adolescent health through an intervention is aimed at improving the quality of their participation in Physical Activity (PAPA) project revolved around the potential of youth sport to promote children's mental and emotional health and physical activity engagement. A theoretically grounded coach education training programme (i.e. Empowering CoachingTM), which was designed to create a sporting environment which was more positive and adaptive for young children, was customised for grassroots soccer, delivered and evaluated via a multi-method cluster RCT across five European countries; namely, England, France, Greece, Norwa…

Análisis de las propiedades psicométricas de la versión española del cuestionario de clima en el deporte

The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Sport Climate Questionnaire (S-SCQ) (SDT, Sport Climate Questionnaire, n.d.) were determined from a sample of 301 Spanish high-level competitive athletes (171 men and 130 women) from the Community of Valencia. The S-SCQ assesses athletes' perceptions of coach-provided autonomy support. The assumed uni-dimensional structure of both the long and short versions of the instrument was supported. Both versions also exhibited high reliability (internal consistency). Support for the convergent validity of the scale(s) was also obtained as the measure of coach autonomy support significantly related to the different types of motivation regulat…

The Role of Dispositional Orientations and Goal Motives on Athletes' Well- and Ill-Being

Findings in different contexts suggest that task orientation and ego orientation are related to adaptive and maladaptive motivational patterns, respectively. In sport, these personal dispositions could influence other important variables such as the goals that athletes pursue (and why they pursue them) during the season and their well- and ill-being. The main purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between athletes’ dispositional goal orientations, their goal motives, and their reported well-being (subjective vitality) and ill-being (physical and emotional exhaustion). The study involved 414 Spanish university athletes (206 female and 208 male) with an age range of 17…

Coach autonomy support and quality of sport engagement in young soccer players

Based on the self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), this study tested a model of the assumed sequential relationships between perceived autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, self-determined motivation, and enjoyment/boredom. The hypothesized mediational roles of psychological need satisfaction and self-determined motivation were also studied. In a sample of 370 young male soccer players, path analysis results offered support for the proposed model. Total mediation was supported in the case of the psychological need satisfaction in the relationship between autonomy support and self-determined motivation, and partial mediation for self-determined motivation in the links b…

The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Lockdown on Athletes’ Subjective Vitality: The Protective Role of Resilience and Autonomous Goal Motives

The lockdown resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a huge impact on peoples’ health. In sport specifically, athletes have had to deal with frustration of their objectives and changes in their usual training routines. The challenging and disruptive situation could hold implications for their well-being. This study examined the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on changes in athletes’ reported eudaimonic well-being (subjective vitality) and goal motives (autonomous and controlled) over time (i.e., pre-lockdown and during lockdown). The relationship of resilience to changes in subjective vitality was also determined, and changes in athletes’ goal motives were examined as pot…

Empowering and disempowering motivational climates, mediating psychological processes, and future intentions of sport participation

Based on the conceptual model of multidimensional and hierarchical motivational climate the objective of this study was to test two models. One model (M1) of total mediation, testing the mediating mechanisms that explain why the motivational climate affects intention of continuity or dropout. Specifically, we test the mediating role of satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs and self-determined motivation, in the relationship between the players’ perception of the empowering and disempowering climate created by the coach, and the intention of young soccer players to continue/dropout the sport practice. The second model (M2) of partial mediation, contributes to knowing the mech…

Clima motivacional, metas de logro de aproximación y evitación y bienestar en futbolistas cadetes

Basado en la teoría de las metas de logro (modelo dicotómico, Nicholls, 1989; y modelo 2 x 2, Elliot y McGregor, 2001), se exploró un modelo en el que se analizaban las relaciones hipotetizadas entre el clima motivacional percibido, la competencia percibida, las metas de maestría y resultado (aproximación y evitación), e indicadores positivos de bienestar (satisfacción con la vida y autoestima). Participaron 370 jóvenes varones jugadores de fútbol entre los 12 y los 16 años (M = 14,77). Los resultados mostraron una asociación positiva entre la percepción de un clima de implicación en la tarea y las orientaciones a la maestría (aproximación y evitación), y entre la percepción de un clima de …

Coach-created motivational climate and athletes’ adaptation to psychological stress : Temporal motivation-emotion interplay

This two-wave study investigated the temporal interplay between motivation and the intensity and reported impact of athletes’ emotions in training settings. In total, 217 athletes completed self-report measures of motivational climate, motivation regulations, emotional states (i.e., pleasant states, anger, and anxiety) experienced before practice at two time points during a 3-month period. Latent change score modeling revealed significantly negative paths from task-involving climate at time 1 to the latent change in the intensity of dysfunctional anxiety and anger, and significantly positive paths from ego-involving climate at time 1 to the latent change in dysfunctional anger (i.e., intens…

The relationship of task self-efficacy and role efficacy beliefs to role performance in Spanish youth soccer

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between role efficacy and role performance after controlling for the effects of task self-efficacy. Two hundred and ninety-five Spanish youth soccer players from 20 teams completed self-report measures of task self-efficacy, role efficacy and role performance at the mid-point of a competitive season. The 20 team coaches also provided ratings of each of their players' role performances at mid-season. Consistent with hypotheses, bivariate correlations showed task self-efficacy and role efficacy were positively related to role performance ratings. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that role efficacy contributed significantly to the …

Coaches as promoters of team cohesion

The objective of this study was threefold: 1) To determine the links between the perceived coach-created motivational climate and cohesion, 2) To test a model with the following sequence: Dimensions of the perceived coach-created motivational climate → self-determined motivation → Dimensions of cohesion, and 3) To examine the meditational role of self-determined motivation in the relationship between perceived coach-created motivational climate and cohesion. Eight hundred and night young footballers (789 boys and 11 girls; M age = 11.49 ± 1.16) completed a package of questionnaires assessing the variables of interest at the beginning of the season. Bivariate correlations reveale…

Motivational Antecedents of Well-Being and Health Related Behaviors in Adolescents

Abstract Grounded in the Achievement Goal Theory framework of motivation and optimal functioning, there were two objectives of this study: (a) to test a model hypothesizing links between personal theories of school achievement, indices of the quality of academic engagement, wellbeing, and health-related behaviors, and (b) to explore whether the hypothesized model was invariant across gender groups. A multisection questionnaire pack tapping the targeted variables was administered to 967 teenagers (475 boys and 492 girls) aged between 11 to 16 years old. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that Task theory of achievement predicted positively satisfaction in school and negatively bo…

Comparing self-reported leisure-time physical activity, subjective health, and life satisfaction among youth soccer players and adolescents in a reference sample

The aim of the study was to examine to what extent young people who play organised soccer rate their leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, life satisfaction, and health more positively and higher than a same-aged population-based reference group (including some adolescents who also played organised soccer). Data from two samples of five countries (England, France, Greece, Norway, and Spain) were included: a sample of soccer players aged 10-14 years who participated in the Promoting Adolescent Physical Activity project [Duda, J.L., Quested, E., Haug, E., Samdal, O., Wold, B., Balaguer, I., …  Cruz, J. (2013). Promoting Adolescent health through an intervention aimed at improvi…

Coaches' interpersonal style, basic psychological needs and the well- and ill-being of young soccer players: a longitudinal analysis.

This study entailed a longitudinal test of basic psychological needs theory, a sub-theory in the self-determination framework (DeciRyan, 2000), in young soccer players. We examined whether changes in soccer players' perceptions of the coaches' interpersonal style (autonomy supportive and controlling) predicted changes in the players' need satisfaction/need thwarting, and in turn, variability in their reported subjective vitality and burnout over the course of a season. Young male soccer players (M = 12.58 ± 0.54 years) completed a questionnaire at two time points in the season [n(T1) = 725; n(T2) = 597]. Changes in the players' perceptions of an autonomy supportive environment significantly…

Correction: Ruiz et al. Social Environmental Antecedents of Athletes’ Emotions. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 4997

In the original article [...]

Coaches as promoters of team cohesion

El objetivo del presente trabajo fue triple: 1) Estudiar las relaciones entre el clima motivacional percibido creado por el entrenador y la cohesión, 2) Poner a prueba un modelo con la siguiente secuencia: dimensiones del clima motivacional percibido  motivación autodeterminada  dimensiones de la cohesión, y 3) Estudiar el papel mediador de la motivación autodeterminada entre el clima motivacional percibido y la cohesión. Ochocientos nueve jóvenes jugadores de fútbol (798 chicos y 11 chicas; M = 11.49, DT = 1.16) completaron un paquete de cuestionarios en los que se evaluaban las variables de interés al principio de la temporada. Las correlaciones bivariadas informaron de relaciones posit…

The Copenhagen Concensus Conference 2016: Children, youth, and physical activity in schools and during leisure time

From 4 to 7 April 2016, 24 researchers from 8 countries and from a variety of academic disciplines gathered in Snekkersten, Denmark, to reach evidence-based consensus about physical activity in children and youth, that is, individuals between 6 and 18 years. Physical activity is an overarching term that consists of many structured and unstructured forms within school and out-of-school-time contexts, including organised sport, physical education, outdoor recreation, motor skill development programmes, recess, and active transportation such as biking and walking. This consensus statement presents the accord on the effects of physical activity on children's and youth's fitness, health, cogniti…

La eficacia de rol como mediadora entre el clima motivacional y el rendimiento en jóvenes futbolistas

ResumenEn el marco de la Teoria de las Metas de Logro y de la Teoria de la Autoeficacia de Bandura, se puso a prueba un modelo hipotetizando relaciones entre el clima motivacional percibido, la eficacia de rol y el desempeno del rol como un indicador del rendimiento, en situaciones de ataque y de defensa en futbol. Asimismo, se exploro el papel mediador de la eficacia de rol entre el clima motivacional y el rendimiento. Un total de 295 futbolistas varones de entre 12 y 16 anos completaron los cuestionarios que evaluaban las variables de estudio. Los resultados mostraron que, tanto en ataque como en defensa, la eficacia de rol actuo como mediadora entre el clima de implicacion en la tarea y …

Predicting athletes’ functional and dysfunctional emotions: The role of the motivational climate and motivation regulations

This study examined the relationships between perceptions of the motivational climate, motivation regulations, and the intensity and functionality levels of athletes' pleasant and unpleasant emotional states. Specifically, we examined the hypothesised mediational role of motivation regulations in the climate-emotion relationship. We also tested a sequence in which emotions were assumed to be predicted by the motivational climate dimensions and then served as antecedents to variability in motivation regulations. Participants (N = 494) completed a multi-section questionnaire assessing targeted variables. Structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that a perceived task-involving climate was …

The Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire: Testing for Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences in Spanish and Portuguese Adolescents

Within the theoretical framework of achievement goals (Nicholls, 1989), Duda and Nicholls (see Duda, 1989; Duda & Whitehead, 1998) developed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) to assess individual differences in achievement goal orientations. This study searches for validity evidence of the TEOSQ in the case of Spanish (2473) and Portuguese (2486) junior high school. The results showed that factor structure, factor loadings, and intercepts could be considered invariant across groups. Between group differences in latent means showed slightly higher mean scores for the Spanish group for both factors. The results also provide high support for the internal consistency o…

A test of basic psychological needs theory in young soccer players: time-lagged design at the individual and team levels.

Within the framework of basic psychological needs theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) with a time-lagged design was used to test a mediation model examining the relationship between perceptions of coaches’ interpersonal styles (autonomy supportive and controlling), athletes’ basic psychological needs (satisfaction and thwarting), and indicators of well-being (subjective vitality) and ill-being (burnout), estimating separately between and within effects. The participants were 597 Spanish male soccer players aged between 11 and 14 years (M = 12.57, SD = 0.54) from 40 teams who completed a questionnaire package at two time points in a competitive season. …

Perfectionism and performance-related psychobiosocial states: The mediating role of competition appraisals.

Using the multi-states (MuSt) theory as a framework, the present study focused on the individual (personality) antecedents of psychobiosocial states. Psychobiosocial states comprise emotional subjective experiences and their correlates (cognitive, motivational, volitional, bodily, motor-behavioural, operational, and communicative), that can be functional for performance (helpful) or dysfunctional (harmful). Specifically, we examined the relationships between two perfectionism dimensions (perfectionistic strivings and concerns) and functional and dysfunctional psychobiosocial states. The hypothesised mediational role of competitive appraisals was also tested. Participants (N = 271, 138 femal…

Free Communications: Verbal and Poster

Social Environmental Antecedents of Athletes’ Emotions

The coach-created motivational climate influences variations in athletes’ motivation and emotional experiences. The present study aimed to examine social environmental antecedents of athletes’ emotions. Participants (N = 262, 52% female, M age = 22.75 ± 6.92) completed questionnaires assessing perceptions of coach-created motivational climates, goal orientations, motivation regulations, and emotions. The mediation effects of goal orientations (i.e., task/ego) and motivation regulations (i.e., autonomous/controlled) on the relationship between motivational climate (i.e., empowering/disempowering) and emotions (i.e., happiness, excitement, anxiety, dejection, and anger) were examined. Structu…

Goal orientation profile differences on perceived motivational climate, perceived peer relationships, and motivation-related responses of youth athletes.

The aims of this study were twofold: (a) to determine if dispositional achievement goal orientation profiles that are reported in the literature would be observed in a sample of youth athletes, and (b) to examine potential achievement goal orientation profile differences on perceptions of the motivational climate, perceptions of peer relationships, and motivation-related responses. Male soccer players (n=223) aged 9-12 years (mean=10.9, s=0.6) completed a multi-section questionnaire containing assessments of dispositional goal (task, ego) orientations, the perceived task- and ego-involving features of the motivational climate, perceived peer acceptance and friendship quality (positive frien…

Changes in Drop Out Intentions: Implications of the Motivational Climate, Goal Orientations and Aspects of Self-Worth across a Youth Sport Season

The main objective of this work was to study the motivational antecedents of the intention to drop out of youth sport from the postulates of the achievement goal theory (AGT), placing special emphasis on the motivational climate that coaches create in their teams. Specifically, we analyzed whether changes in the perception of the motivational climate between the beginning and the end of the season predicted changes in players’ goal orientations, whether these, in turn, predicted changes in self-esteem and contingent self-esteem, and finally, whether the latter predicted the intention to drop out. Participants in the study were 552 players (Mage = 11.23, SD = 1.14), who completed the questio…

The relationship between observed and perceived assessments of the coach-created motivational environment and links to athlete motivation

Abstract Objectives The majority of research examining the relationship between the coach-created motivational and athlete motivation has relied on self-report measures. Grounded in Duda’s (2013) theoretically integrated model, the present study examined: (1) athletes', coaches' and observers' reports of the multidimensional motivational coaching environment in four European countries, (2) the interrelationships of these different perspectives of the motivational environment, and (3) links between the multidimensional environment and athletes' autonomous, controlled and amotivation. Design We employed a cross-sectional study design and utilized mixed methods to tap the variables of interest…

Coach-Created Motivational Climate

Initial psychometric testing of the coach-adapted version of the empowering and disempowering motivational climate questionnaire: A Bayesian approach.

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the coach-adapted version of the Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire (EDMCQ) using Bayesian structural equation modelling (BSEM). The sample included 780 (

Self-Perceptions, Self-Worth and Sport Participation in Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to study the associations between specific self-perceptions and global self-worth with different frequency levels of sport participation among Spanish boys and girls adolescents. Students (457 boys and 460 girls) completed the Self Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985) and items assessing sport engagement from The Health Behavior in School Children Questionnaire (Wold, 1995). Results showed that some specific dimensions of self-perception were related to different frequency of sport participation whereas overall judgments of self-worth did not. Specifically, for boys and girls, higher levels of sport participation were positively associated to Athletic…

Interacciones entre las perspectivas situacionales y disposicionales de meta y el burnout psicológico de los tenistas junior de la élite internacional [Interplays between situational and dispositional goals perspectives and psychological burnout...]

Resumen Desde el marco de la teoria cognitivo social de las metas de logro en este trabajo se exploran los efectos principales y de interaccion de las orientaciones de meta y del clima motivacional sobre la percepcion de los indicadores del burnout en 225 jovenes tenistas (138 chicos y 87 chicas) de la elite internacional (M edad = 15.7 ± 2.1 anos). Asimismo, se estudia la validez factorial del Eades Athlete Burnout Inventory (EABI), se examina la presencia del burnout y se analiza la relacion entre horas de entrenamiento semanales y el burnout. Los jugadores completaron las versiones inglesas o espanolas del EABI, del TEOSQ y del PMCSQ-2 en diferentes centros de entrenamiento. Los resultad…