How the Bright and Dark Side of Self-Determination Theory Influence Participants' Life Skills Development in Youth Sport

Objectives: This study investigated whether basic needs satisfaction versus frustration mediated the relationships between autonomy-supportive versus controlling coaching and participants’ life skills development in youth sport. Design: This descriptive study used a cross-sectional research design. To ensure a diverse sample, participants were recruited from a wide range of sports. Methods: British and Irish youth sport participants (N = 309) completed measures of autonomy-supportive and controlling coaching, basic need satisfaction versus frustration (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and life skills development in sport (teamwork, goal setting, social skills, problem solving, emotional skills, leadership, time management, and communication skills). Results: Correlational analyses showed that coach autonomy support was positively related to participants’ basic need satisfaction and life skills development. Controlling coaching was only positively associated with participants’ basic need frustration. Mediational analyses revealed that satisfaction of the three needs combined mediated the relationships between coach autonomy support and participants’ development of all eight life skills. Relatedness satisfaction mediated the relationships between coach autonomy support and participants’ development of all life skills except for goal setting. Autonomy satisfaction only mediated the relationships between coach autonomy support and time management; whereas, competence satisfaction mediated the relationships between coach autonomy support and participants’ goal setting and emotional skills. Conclusions: Findings indicated that basic need satisfaction is a mechanism that helps explain the relationships between coach autonomy support and sport participants’ life skills development. As such, coaches should create an autonomy-supportive climate that satisfies participants’ three basic needs and may help to develop their life skills