The influence of motivational climate in engagement of Argentinean athletes from Youth Olympic Games

RAIMUNDI, M.J.; GARCÍA ARABEHETY, M.; IGLESIAS, D.; PÉREZ GAIDO, M.; MORILLO, M.; SCHMIDT, V.

Sevilla

Congreso; 14th World Congress of Sport Psychology; 2017

International Society of Sport Psychology

Elite sports are characterized by the high degree of personal commitment necessary to achieve high levels of performance and succeed. Indeed engagement is the essence of participation in elite sports. It becomes a key issue in this level of competition because high levels of engagement prevent drop out. The social environment surrounding young athletes has an important influence on their experiences in sport because significant others (parents, coaches, professors, teammates) acquire a determining role in the enjoyment of the activity. The aim of this work is to study the influence of perceived coach?s and parents? motivational climate on engagement and intentions to drop out on young elite athletes from National Teams from Argentina. Two hundred and thirty four athletes (47.9 % male, 52,1 % female) aged between 12 and 16 years (M = 14.48, SD = 1.09) that were selected to represent their nation in different sports at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG Buenos Aires 2018) participated in the study. They completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Spanish Sport Climate Questionnaire (S-SCQ), the Perceptions of Parents Scale (POPS), the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire (AEQ), the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) and the Intentions to Drop Out Questionnaire. Multiple linear regressions were performed to study the effect of perceived motivational climate provided by coaches and parents on athletes? engagement. Autonomy support provided by coaches has greater influence on engagement in males than in females and it has a greater influence on intentions to drop out in females. Regardless of gender, coach?s motivational climate is a stronger predictor than parents? for both engagement and intentions to drop out.