Motivation in youth sport : A study of athletes’ motivation, perceptions of coach behavior, self-perceptions, affective responses and behavior

Background: The aim of the present thesis was to contribute to the research area of youth sport motivation by looking at potential nuances in relationships that have received empirical support previously. Specifically, the focus was on the relationship between youth athletes' motivation and various outcomes, but also how perceptions of coach behavior are related to that motivation. As a part of the Promoting Adolescent Physical Activity (PAPA) project, this doctoral thesis shares the project's overall belief that the potential health benefits of youth sport participation will depend on the social psychological environment created by the coach, as well as central motivational processes (Duda, 2013). To that end, the thesis draws from self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2017) and achievement goal theory (AGT; Nicholls, 1989) to investigate aspects of youth sport motivation. Objectives: This thesis was guided by three overarching themes, namely (1) how youth athletes' motivation influences intrapersonal aspects pertaining to their participation and in general, (2) the relationship between perceived coach behavior and various motivational outcomes, and (3) the role of coach-team perceptual distance in the relationship between coach behavior and various motivational outcomes. Methods and Design: Youth athletes' and their coaches filled out standardized questionnaires to measure aspects relating to coach behavior, motivation and various outcomes. (I) A latent conditional process analysis using cross-sectional data was used to investigate the interaction between achievement goal orientation and motivational regulation in relation to competence need satisfaction and general self-esteem (N = 496 female youth athletes). (II) Again, a latent conditional process analysis using cross-sectional data was employed when examining whether athletes' perceptions of controlling coach behavior moderated the relationship between a coach-created mastery climate, task goal orientation, and competence satisfaction (N = 1119 youth athletes). (III) A two-wave design was used to create a half-longitudinal model to test whether the satisfaction of the basic need for autonomy, competence and relatedness mediated the relationship between coach autonomy support and frequency of additional soccer activity outside of the team context (N = 527 youth athletes). (IV) Polynomial regression with response surface methodology was used to examine whether coach-team perceptual distance in regard to the coach-created motivational climate related to achievement goal orientations, enjoyment, and anxiety (N = 1359 youth athletes, 87 different teams and 87 coaches)