The main aim of this study was to examine mediating effects in the relationships between cohesion, collective efficacy and performance in professional basketball teams. A secondary aim was to examine the correlates of collective efficacy in a professional sport. A total of 154 French and foreign professional players completed French or English versions of questionnaires about cohesion and collective efficacy. Two composite measures of individual performance were used (pre- and post-performance). Individual-level analyses were performed. Regression analyses supported two mediating relationships with collective efficacy as a mediator of the pre-performance - Group integration-task relationship, and Group integration-task as a mediator of the pre-performance - collective efficacy relationship. Statistical analyses indicated that neither Group integration-task nor collective efficacy was a better mediator in the relationship between pre-performance and the other group variables. Results also revealed positive relationships between three dimensions of cohesion (i.e. Individual attractions to the group-task, Group integration-task, Group integration-social) and collective efficacy. These findings suggest that in professional basketball teams, staff members should look after athletes who perform at a lower or below their usual level because their performances might lead them into a downward cohesion - collective efficacy spiral. Staff members should also develop a high quality of group functioning, both on and off the basketball court, given its relationship with collective efficacy.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the direction of the effect between cohesion and collective efficacy in elite female handball teams. A total of 84 female handball players completed 2 questionnaires at 2 time periods during the competitive season (i.e., early and midseason). Relationships were examined across time at an individual level after statistically controlling for previous group performance. Regression analyses including the autoregressive influence indicated that early-season collective efficacy positively predicted variance in midseason individual attractions to the group-task (ATG-T) after controlling for early-season ATG-T scores. In elite female handball teams, findings only supported collective efficacy as an antecedent of task cohesion and suggested that coaches should promote strategies dedicated to foster athletes’ beliefs about their team efficacy.

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The purpose of this study was to contribute to the factorial validity of the Behavioural Regulation Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ) by providing (1) an adaptation of the BRSQ to the young competitive athletes (YBRSQ) targeted in the PAPA project (i.e., 9-15 years old) in five European countries