Sportspersonship coaching behaviours, relatedness need satisfaction, and early adolescent athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviour

Abstract

Introduction: Previous research has found that high school athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviours were predicted by coaches’ behaviours focused on sportspersonship, as assessed by the Sportsmanship Coaching Behaviours Scale (SCBS). However, these relationships have not been assessed with early adolescents. In line with basic needs theory (BNT), sportspersonship coaching behaviours should be associated with athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviours through effects on their sense of relatedness. The two purposes of the present study were: (a) establish further validity and reliability for the SCBS and (b) determine whether relatedness mediates the relationship between coaching behaviours and athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Design: Cross-sectional, correlational design. Method: Participants included 246 middle school-aged boys and girls (M age = 11.8, SD = 1.2) involved in a team sport who completed a survey to assess study variables. Results: Analyses showed a good fit to the data for a five-factor model, suggesting the SCBS is appropriate for early adolescents. In line with BNT, perceptions of coaching behaviours were associated with players’ relatedness and, in turn, their prosocial and antisocial sport behaviours. Specifically, modelling good sportsmanship was associated with greater prosocial and fewer antisocial behaviours through relatedness with coaches and teammates. Punishing poor sportsmanship was associated with fewer antisocial behaviours through relatedness with coaches. Conclusion: Collectively, findings support the validity of the SCBS for assessing coaching behaviours focused on sportspersonship and use of BNT for understanding athletes’ sportspersonship.

Keywords:

• character
• moral development
• basic needs theory
• positive youth development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We used the term “sportspersonship” when discussing the concept generally and reporting related research, but we used the term “sportsmanship” during data collection with youth (i.e. survey items) because this is more frequently used in everyday language.