Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4499-6327

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Sport and Exercise Psychology

Committee Chair

Samuel Zizzi

Committee Member

Ashley Coker-Cranney

Committee Member

Peter McGahey

Committee Member

Christine Schimmel

Abstract

Coach behaviors impact several essential athlete factors such as the quality of athlete motivation and psychological functioning and yet, many youth coaches remain untrained in motivation and athlete-centered principles. This study’s aim was to explore the efficacy of a need-supportive intervention on youth hockey coaches’ attitudes toward, and reported use of, need-supportive and/or need-thwarting approaches. Participants included 25 youth hockey coaches randomly assigned to an intervention or delayed control condition. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, the intervention included four sessions within which coaches learned how to adopt need-supportive coaching strategies and reduce need-thwarting tactics. A mixed-methods approach guided the evaluation of the program’s effectiveness via an integration of pre- and post-test measures of coaches’ self-reported coaching style and written reflections. At post-test, intervention participants showed significant improvements in self-reported autonomy-supportive coaching and significant reductions in controlling and chaotic coaching behaviors when compared with the delayed control group. Coaches reported how program enhancers, barriers, and their implementation efforts contributed to the overall training experience. Overall, the findings indicate that the present intervention approach may be suitable for training other youth sport coaches to adopt need-supportive behaviors and reduce need-thwarting tactics which can enhance youth sport experiences.

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