Which Assessment of Coach-Created Motivational Climate Better Predicts Young Athletes’ Engagement over a Season? Athletes’ Perceptions and Match Observations Do

Abstract

This work examines athletes’ and coaches’ perceptions and observed behavior in training and matches of the motivational climate created by the coach over the course of a season and whether these sources of information can inform the engagement of young basketball and volleyball players. A longitudinal design and multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models were conducted. Adolescents (n = 517) of both genders (61.1% male, 38.9% female) aged between 12 and 20 years (M = 16.01; SD = 1.85) playing in the A division of the basketball (46.4%) and volleyball (53.6%) federation of Buenos Aires (Argentina) participated in the study. In addition, 48 coaches (83% male, 17% female; M age = 33.98; SD = 8.39) from these teams participated. The coaches were videotaped during the training sessions in the three waves of measurements. Observers used the Multidimensional Motivational Climate Observational System. Athletes and coaches completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, and the Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire-Coach. Athletes also completed the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire. Differences were found between perspectives and, in general, a decrease in variables characterizing empowering climates and an increase in those characterizing disempowering climates were observed over the course of the season. When all measures are considered together and the effect of time is controlled for, the assessments that predict engagement are athlete perceptions and match observations.

Engagement in Youth Athletes as a Positive Experience in Sport: Implications of Gender, Age, and Competitive Level

“…Additionally, the cross-sectional design does not allow for follow-up engagement over time. Longitudinal studies have measured engagement over a season, examining antecedents such as variables in the environment, including the athlete–coach relationship [ 19 ]. Follow-up studies of athletes’ careers could provide information about the predictive validity of the construct.…”

“…This study also provides coaches, parents, and sports leaders with valuable knowledge and resources to enhance positive sporting experiences and promote health. Following several studies that have shown the significance of the creation of motivational climates by coaches and their impact on engagement, particularly in what happens during competitions and matches [ 19 ], it opens the way for intervention, providing specific strategies to develop in these contexts to support autonomy and promote task-involving climates. For instance, coaches can set challenging and intrinsically motivating goals and establish a line of learning for each athlete to evaluate their progress.…”

“…According to SDT, an environment (e.g., coaches, parents) that supports athletes’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness leads to higher levels of athlete engagement [ 13 , 19 ]. A recent study suggested that a parent’s task-involving climate had a positive association with their athlete child’s engagement [ 20 ].…”

Leadership cycles, styles, and antecedent factors: the perspective of coaches and young soccer athletes from national Slovak leagues

“…Coaches believe that they provide greater support and active management and lower negative feedback and passive management than their athletes perceive. Coaches perceive their leadership behavior more positively than their team athletes ( Gjesdal et al, 2019 ; Raimundi et al, 2023 ). It is worth noting that this pattern was verified in objective 1, where coaches were more optimistic about their tendency to explicitly the leadership philosophy than athletes’ perception.…”