Author(s): NOVOTNÁ, J., KOMARC, M., HARBICHOVÁ, I., REDLICHOVÁ, V., Institution: CHARLES UNIVERSITY, Country: CZECH REPUBLIC, Abstract-ID: 2686

Introduction: The social environment is vital to adolescent athletes’ psychological functioning, with parents and coaches acting as primary sources of motivational influence shaping their wellbeing and sport experiences. During adolescence, athletes are especially susceptible to burnout, a phenomenon characterized by emotional exhaustion and diminished motivation that poses significant risks to continued sport participation and mental health [1]. Parental involvement and the motivational climate established by coaches are integral factors that can either mitigate or exacerbate this vulnerability [2]. Research indicates that a supportive coaching climate, which fosters autonomy and competence, positively correlates with improved psychological health and resilience [1]. In contrast, an unsupportive environment can lead to increased burnout [3]. Furthermore, studies have shown that parental engagement in sports shapes young athletes’ emotional responses and ultimately their longevity in sports [4]. Therefore, this study examined how perceived parental involvement and coaching motivational climate relate to wellbeing and burnout in adolescent football players.
Methods: Ninety-nine male and female competitive football players aged 15–20 years completed an online survey assessing parental behaviors (PISQ), empowering and disempowering coaching climate (CCEDMCQ), wellbeing (EPOCH), and athlete burnout (ABQ). Associations were examined using Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses. Exploratory gender differences were tested using independent samples t-tests.
Results: Pearson correlations showed that empowering coaching climate was positively associated with wellbeing (r = .32, p = .001), whereas disempowering climate was negatively associated with wellbeing (r = −.21, p = .042). A small positive association was observed between parental support and burnout (r = .24, p = .016). In multiple regression analyses, empowering coaching climate significantly predicted wellbeing (β = .28, p = .018), explaining 11.8% of the variance. The regression model predicting burnout was not statistically significant, and parental variables did not emerge as significant predictors. Exploratory analyses revealed significant gender differences in wellbeing and burnout (both p < .05), with male athletes reporting higher scores than female athletes.
Conclusion: Coaching behaviors appear to play an important role in adolescent athletes’ wellbeing. A small association between parental support and burnout may suggest that parents increase supportive behaviors in response to athletes’ distress. Understanding the distinct contributions of coaches and parents may inform interventions in youth sport.
This work was supported by GAUK 10425.
References
[1] Liu & Fu, Journal of Applied Psychology (2011)
[2] Gao et al., Frontiers in Psycholog
[3] Isoard‐Gautheur et al., International Journal of Stress Management (2018)
[4] Harwood et al., Frontiers in Psychology (2019)