Relationships between Controlling Interpersonal Coaching Style, Basic Psychological Need Thwarting, and Burnout, in Adolescent Soccer Players

Abstract

<jats:p>The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationships between a controlling interpersonal style, psychological need thwarting and burnout in adolescent soccer players and to test a structural equation model to analyze whether (a) a controlling interpersonal style is a predictor of psychological need thwarting and whether (b) psychological need thwarting is a predictor of burnout. A total of 103 male soccer players between the ages of 12 and 17 participated in the research (M = 14.91; SD = 5.56). The Controlling Coach Behaviors Scale, the Psychological Need Thwarting Scale, and the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire were used to evaluate the variables under study. The analyses revealed significant relationships between a controlling interpersonal style, psychological need thwarting and burnout. Furthermore, the proposed structural equations model, using the partial least squares (PLS) method, showed that a controlling style is a positive predictor of basic psychological need thwarting and that the latter is a predictor of burnout, as well as revealing an indirect relationship between a controlling style and burnout. This indirect effect of the controlling style variable on burnout can be enhanced (or attenuated) by the basic psychological need thwarting variable, which acts as a modulator.</jats:p>

Coaches’ controlling interpersonal style and frustration of basic psychological needs in adolescent judokas

“…No significant differences were found in the rest of the variables. These results differ from those obtained in the study by Morales-Sánchez et al (2020), where the most important indicator within the control style variable was negative conditional regard, which could be defined as the denial of love, attention and affection when the athletes do not show the desired behaviours. Although it is true that, in the previous study, no differences were established in terms of gender, since the sample compendium was comprised exclusively of 103 male football players aged between 12 and 17 years old.…”

“…The results confirmed a positive and significant relationship between all the study variables, highlighting those established between the athletes' perception of the coaches' or judo masters' interpersonal styles, and the frustration of their basic psychological needs, in agreement with studies such as those of , Mars et al (2017) or Morales-Sánchez et al (2020). In this latter study, they analysed the existing relationships between a controlling interpersonal style, frustration of psychological needs, and burnout in adolescent football players.…”

“…No significant differences were found for the rest of the variables. These results are related to those obtained by Morales-Sánchez et al (2020), where the indicators of the frustration of basic psychological needs variable, which proved to be more important, were the indicators of frustration of autonomy and frustration of competence. The frustration of competence in our study, according to the number of training hours, can be caused by the coach's controlling style in the control of the use of rewards (Balaguer et al, 2012), within this intermediate group, which is usually comprised of athletes who aspire to be at the highest level, but have not yet achieved this, but who are not beginners, either (Pulido, Fuentes & de la Vega, 2019).…”

“…Recent research with football players has revealed significant relationships between a controlling interpersonal style, frustration of psychological needs and burnout, also showing that a controlling style is a positive predictor of the frustration of basic psychological needs (Mars, Castillo, Lopez-Wane & Balaguer, 2017;Morales-Sánchez et al, 2020). Although these studies can be taken as a reference when establishing future hypotheses, the possible differences that exist between the practice and leadership exercised in team sports, with respect to individual sports, -as we would consider judo in this case -, should be taken into account, since the influence of the team's motivational environment may determine the perceived competence in a training session, and the satisfaction of the athletes with their coach .…”

Examining Controlling Styles of Significant Others and Their Implications for Motivation, Boredom and Burnout in Young Swimmers

“…A more recent study by Atienza et al [ 4 ] with vocational dancers showed that autonomous motivation was negatively associated with burnout, and amotivation was positively associated with it, whereas controlled motivation was not linked to burnout. Other studies (e.g., [ 33 , 34 ]) have reported that perception of a controlling interpersonal coaching style had significant predictive power on thwarting each of the basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and these thwarted needs were positively associated with burnout.…”