Examining football players' perceived social support across organizational levels and its links to holistic talent development outcomes in German youth academies.

Sport research highlights the significance of supportive relationships and a psychologically safe environment for promoting desirable talent development outcomes associated with young athletes' performance, wellbeing, and personal development. Against this background, this study aimed to investigate youth football players' perceived availability of different kinds of social support from various stakeholders along the talent pathway in German elite youth academies (1). It further sought to examine the link of such social support perceptions to wellbeing, sport commitment and individual performance satisfaction as relevant development outcomes (2). Finally, the study examined potential mechanism underlying these associations by considering psychological safety as a potential mediator (3). For this purpose, N = 271 youth academy players participating in teams of under-13s, under-15s, and under-17/19s age groups completed a multi-section online survey including the PASS-Q, PsySafety-Check, and WHO-5 as well as subscales of the ASQ (i.e., individual performance satisfaction) and YSCS (i.e., sport commitment). Multivariate analyses indicated significant differences in players' perceptions of social support depending on its kind and provider as well as on players' age group. Further, path models highlighted the importance of emotional and esteem support provided by coaches and management for players' talent development outcomes. However, psychological safety seemed to only play a minor role within those associations, partially mediating the effects of emotional support. Overall, these findings encourage a critical reflection of youth players' social support needs and opportunities to optimally address those within elite youth academies as prominent talent development environments in football.

Culture, emotion, and cognition: Understanding the psychological dynamics of Chinese sports with emotional regulation skills and cognitive reappraisal.

This study illuminates the complex relationship between cultural orientation towards collectivism, emotional regulation skills, cognitive reappraisal ability, sports engagement, perceived coach support, and sports self-efficacy in Chinese athletes' performance satisfaction. Seven hundred and fifty athletes from Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Sichuan completed 5-point Likert scale assessments. The study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze variable connections. The results reveal significant relationships between performance satisfaction and cultural orientation towards collectivism (ß = 0.35, p < 0.001), emotional regulation skills (ß = 0.28, p < 0.001), cognitive reappraisal ability (ß = 0.32, p < 0.01), sports engagement (ß = 0.20, p < 0.05), perceived coach support (ß = 0.25, p < 0.01), and self-efficacy in sports (ß = 0.30, p < 0.001). These findings underscore the importance of psychological factors in shaping athlete well-being and performance satisfaction. These relationships linked the self-determination theory, social support theory, and the transactional model of stress and coping. Treatments that improve athlete self-efficacy, emotional control, and coach-athlete relationships may improve player happiness, retention, and organizational performance. These actions affect management and the economy. A supportive environment and athlete development initiatives may boost athlete well-being and performance, leading to long-term sports success and competitiveness.

Links between environmental features and developmental outcomes of elite youth athletes: A cross-sectional study within the German talent pathway.

From a holistic perspective, the talent development environment (TDE) influences not only the athletic development but also the development of personal skills as well as the wellbeing of elite youth athletes. Alongside research on the effects of broader environmental features on athlete-related talent development (TD) outcomes, the importance of the closer social climate (i.e., teammates, coaches, support staff) is also emphasized. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between environmental features, the social climate and athlete-related TD outcomes (I). Additionally, an exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate the role of motivational climate and psychological safety in the relationship between environmental features and athlete-related TD outcomes (II). To this end, 345 German elite youth athletes completed an online survey assessing their perceptions of environmental features, coach-created motivational climate, and psychological safety as well as wellbeing, performance satisfaction, and life skills development. The results revealed that environmental features (especially long-term development focus, effective coach-athlete communication, and the social network), motivational climate and psychological safety were all significantly associated with the outcome variables. These findings underline the significance of environmental features for athlete-related TD outcomes of young talented athletes in German elite youth sports. However, the results indicated that motivational climate and psychological safety did not have significant indirect effects on the relationship between TDE features and athlete-related TD outcomes. Thus, it remains to be questioned if and what other processes influence this relationship.

The Relationship between Exercise Re-Participation Intention Based on the Sports-Socialization Process: YouTube Sports Content Intervention.

Few studies have used a quantitative research methodology to examine the socialization process model, and such studies were conducted to verify a new model by intervening in the variables of YouTube sports content. To understand this process, we tested the moderated mediating effect by intervening in YouTube sports content based on the sports socialization process model. We recruited 274 participants from the Jeju Residents' Jeju Sports Festival, Korea. The PROCESS Macro program was performed to test the research hypotheses. The findings indicate that social support had a significant effect on re-participation intention. Social support had a significant mediation effect on exercise interruption intention, re-participation intention, and exercise performance satisfaction. Furthermore, through the relationship between social support and exercise interruption intention, YouTube sports content showed a significant interaction of re-participation intention in exercise. These results extend sports socialization theory by discovering a new model that explains the relationship between the sports socialization process and YouTube sports content. In addition, it will provide a basis for delivering educational information to the public so that they can recognize the importance of physical activity and exercise skills.

Does Goal Orientation Modulate Satisfaction With Cognitive Performance in Different Age Groups?

OBJECTIVES: The current experiment tested the causal effect of goal orientation on subjective satisfaction with performance on a cognitive task. METHOD: A sample of N = 231 young, middle-aged, and older adults (21-79 years) completed a dot-memory task in one of 3 goal orientation conditions aiming for improvement, maintenance, or avoidance of decline in performance. RESULTS: Bayesian analyses showed that in all age groups, goal orientation influenced actual performance, but did not affect perceived performance or performance satisfaction. Performance satisfaction was positively correlated with perceived performance, but not with actual performance. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that whether goal orientation benefits older adults' subjective well-being might depend on (a) the goal content (previous research targeted personal goals) or (b) whether it enhances their perception of the status quo (and thus reduces the discrepancy between actual and desired states). This study contributes to a better understanding of the role of goal orientation in subjective well-being across adulthood.

Competence and Satisfaction in Occupational Performance Among a Sample of University Students: An Exploratory Study.

Success at university may be influenced by concerns with occupation and occupational performance. To understand occupations of concern and occupational performance among a sample (N = 144) of university students in the Midwest United States, the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure was administered. Socially related (n = 103), academic-related (n = 75), and work-related (n = 64) occupations were the three most frequently reported occupational concerns. Time management (n = 79) was the most frequent person-level concern. Mean self-perceived competence in occupations was 29.83 (SD = 7.18) out of 50 and mean performance satisfaction was 26.80 (SD = 8.01) out of 50. There were no differences in occupational performance across gender, race/ethnicity, class standing, living environment, or work status. However, within participants, there was a significant and clinically relevant difference between performance satisfaction and self-perceived competence in occupation, t(143) = 7.052, p < .0005, d = 0.58. Students have varied occupations that they find important, and future research should explore how occupational performance and performance satisfaction influence university success.

Self-efficacy moderates but collective efficacy mediates between motivational climate and athletes' well-being.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between perceived motivational climate and athletes' well-being may depend on personal resource factors such as self-efficacy beliefs which are expected to shield individuals from negative outcomes when environmental factors may not suffice to secure positive outcomes. We explored the roles of self-efficacy and collective efficacy by investigating whether they operated either as moderators or as mediators within this relationship. METHODS: Study 1 was carried out among 56 athletes (basketball, volleyball, or soccer players), with a two-week follow-up, whereas Study 2 was conducted among 113 soccer players, with three measurement points (baseline, two-month follow-up, and nine-month follow-up). Their satisfaction with sport skills and performance served as an index of well-being. RESULTS: The findings of Study 1 indicated that general self-efficacy moderated the relationship between task-oriented motivational climate and satisfaction. Task-oriented climate predicted satisfaction only among athletes with low self-efficacy. Study 2 showed that self-efficacy moderated the link between task-oriented motivational climate and satisfaction at nine-month follow-up. In contrast, collective efficacy at two-month follow-up mediated the relationship between perceived motivational climate at baseline and satisfaction at nine-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Athletes are at risk for lower well-being if they perceive a negative task-involving climate and if they harbor either low general self-efficacy or low personal-barrier self-efficacy.