The association between coach-athlete relationship and self-reported task, contextual, and overall athletic performance among university student-athletes

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Introduction: The coach-athlete relationship is a fundamental psychosocial factor associated with athlete performance. However, its associations with self-reported task performance, contextual performance, and overall athletic performance have not been sufficiently examined within a single model. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as the 3C model and Self-Determination Theory, this study aimed to investigate the associations between the coach-athlete relationship and two performance sub-dimensions (task performance and contextual performance) and their composite overall score (athletic performance), with overall athletic performance operationalized as a composite score reflecting athletes' global self-perceived performance. Method: This quantitative study employed a correlational survey design with 276 university student-athletes (154 male and 122 female) competing in individual and team sports. The Coach-Athlete Relationship Scale and the Athletic Performance Scale (comprising task performance and contextual performance sub-dimensions and an overall composite score) were used. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the statistical association of the coach-athlete relationship with self-reported performance dimensions after controlling for demographic variables. Results: The coach-athlete relationship was positively and significantly correlated with task performance (r = 0.412, p < 0.001) , contextual performance (r = 0.465, p < 0.001) , and overall athletic performance (r = 0.461, p < 0.001) . Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the coach-athlete relationship demonstrated a significant statistical association with task performance ( β = 0.514, p < 0.001) , contextual performance ( β = 0.563, p < 0.001) , and overall athletic performance (β = 0.560, p < 0.001) , after controlling for demographic variables. Conclusion: A high-quality coach-athlete relationship is positively associated with athletes' self-reported task performance, contextual performance, and overall athletic performance. These findings suggest that the coach-athlete relationship may be important in relation to athletes' social, cooperative, and team-oriented behaviors. However, as all measures were self-reported, the results reflect perceived rather than objective performance.

This publication has 65 references indexed in Scilit: