Do gender and type of sport matter in the association between basic psychological needs satisfaction and life skills development?

Abstract

This study examined how basic psychological needs satisfaction can predict youth participants’ life skills development according to gender and sport type. A sample of 461 Brazilian youth sport participants (325 boys and 136 girls) ranging between 10 and 17 years was included. Data collection was conducted through the Life Skills Scale for Sport and Basic Needs Satisfaction in Sport Scale. Overall, the three subscales of basic psychological needs satisfaction explained a significant amount of the variance in eight life skills (R2 range = .02 to .08 p < .05) and total life skills (R2 = .07; p < .001) in male athletes. Concerning female athletes, multiple regression analyses revealed significant variance only for teamwork (R2=.09; p<.01) and goal setting (R2= .06; p<.05). Regarding the type of sport, the model presented a significant amount of the variance in eight life skills (R2 range = .02 to .05 p < .05) and total life skills (R2 = .08; p < .001) in team sports. Lastly, in individual sports, multiple regression analyses revealed significant variance only on goal setting (R2= .04; p<.05). Findings showed that youth sport coaches could focus on youth participants’ basic psychological needs when trying to foster life skills development across sport contexts. Based on these findings, several suggestions for improving future research and practice in this area are presented.