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COPYRIGHT 2007 University of South Alabama
Although positive relationships appear to be beneficial in the general development of youth (Berndt & Ladd, 1989; Deci, Nezlek, & Sheinman, 1981; Deci, Schwartz, Sheinman & Ryan, 1981; Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995), relatively little research has explored how relationships affect student athletes (e.g., enhancing motivation to join or terminate a team, increasing pressure during competition, decreasing desire to train; see review by Wiggins, 1996). Indeed, no standardized instruments have been developed to specifically assess the extent and manner by which sport specific problems occur in relationships between athletes and significant others (i.e., coaches, teammates, family, peers). Relevant to the relationship between coaches and athletes, there are a number of factors worthy of exploration (Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988; Martens, 1990). For instance, it has been long established that coaches create stress in athletes when punitive behaviors are emphasized in their relationship (Brower, 1978; Underwood, 1978). Contrarily, coaches can facilitate optimum athletic performance when they utilize positive feedback and reinforcement strategies (Daley, 1978; Weiss & Friedrichs, 1986). Therefore, it is no surprise that coaches have been found to enhance intrinsic motivation in athletes (Amorose & Horn, 2000; Black & Weiss, 1992; Pelletier & Vallerand, 1985; Vallerand & Pelletier, 1985), and athletes' positive perceptions of coaching styles and interactions are strongly associated with motivational factors (Chelladurai, 1984; Westre & Weiss, 1991). Weiss and Friedrichs (1986) found democratic style of decision-making, social support, and praise by coaches were all associated with satisfaction of athletes with their coaches. Behaviors of coaches that are positively perceived by athletes influence sport enjoyment and self-esteem, as well as perceived effort and success (Smith, Smoll, & Curtis, 1978; Smith & Smoll, 1983), whereas high levels of criticism and low levels of positive reinforcement by coaches decrease perceived competence in athletes (Horn, 1985). Burke and Peterson (1995) reported a strong relationship between players' liking of their coaches, and their perceptions of the ability of their coaches. Therefore, there appears to be a great need to develop and validate methods of assessing problems within the athlete-coach relationship.
A few studies have suggested family members may influence the involvement and achievement of athletes in sport more than coaches (Bloom, 1985; Brustad, 1993, Hellstedt, 1988, 1995; Woolger & Power, 1993). Moreover, parents may be the greatest determinants of whether their children are sufficiently motivated to continue sports (Brustad, 1988; Greendorfer, 1992). Brustad (1993, 1996) reported parental encouragement and enjoyment of their childrens' physical activity were significantly related to perceived attraction and competence of their children in physical activities. Similarly, in a sample of soccer players, Babkes and Weiss (1999) reported that parents who were perceived as positive role models by their children (i.e., provided more positive encouragement) were associated with higher perceived enjoyment, competence, and motivation. Alternatively, excessively high parental expectations can become a source of stress that can interfere with the enjoyment and success of their children in sports (McElroy & Kirkendall, 1980; Scanlan & Lewthwaite, 1986), and negative parental support and pressure are related to competitive anxiety, interpersonal difficulties between teammates, and withdrawing from sports (Hellstedt, 1988; Power & Woolger, 1994, VanYperen, 1995). Relatedly, most parents are unable or unwilling to attend sport practice sessions of their youth, which may be interpreted as a lack of support by some athletes (Csikszentimihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993; Sloan, 1985; Monsaas, 1985). Therefore, despite strong support for the necessity of assessing sport relevant interactions between athletes and parents (see Power & Woolger, 1994), there are presently no measures to accomplish this objective.
Peers contribute to enjoyment of physical activity through recognition of accomplishments, companionship, and esteem support. For instance, approval from peers (i.e., teammates) influences global self-worth, appropriate expression of emotions, and motivation to perform pro-social behaviors (Hatter, 1999). Thus, peers are important to the acquisition of competence in sport settings, psychological adjustment, and social and moral development. Although the influence of friendships in athletics has received little empirical attention, the establishment of friendships appears to be a prime reason for participation in sports (Weiss & Ferrer-Caja, 2002). For instance, Weiss, Smith, and Theeboom (1996) found friendships were particularly strong among athletes, and athletes report sport participation is important to their development and affirmation of friendships (Patrick, Ryan, Alfeld-Liro, Fredricks, Hruda, & Eccles, 1999). Primary reasons for enlisting in sports include positive team interactions, support, and opportunities to develop friendships (Scanlan, Carpenter, Lobel, & Simons, 1993; Scanlan, Carpenter, Schmidt, Simons, & Keeler, 1993; Scanlan, Stein, & Ravizza, 1989). Duncan (1993) reported companionship and support from friends were related to positive affective responses to physical education, which in turn predicted future success expectancies. Thus, the need to develop and psychometrically validate measures of sport specific problems within the relationship of athletes and their teammates (and peers in general) is certainly warranted.
The purpose of the present study was threefold: 1) identify potential problems student athletes experience in relationships involving coaches, teammates, peers, and family, 2) develop a standardized self-report instrument to assess sport-specific problems in the aforementioned relationships, and (3) examine the initial psychometric properties of the developed instrument. It was hypothesized that a series of focus groups would yield an item pool sufficient to develop a standardized instrument to measure the extent athletes experience problems in their relationships with coaches, teammates, peers and family members. It was expected that the resulting instrument would evidence adequate internal consistencies in each of the resulting relationship sub-scales (i.e., alphas >.70), and significant correlations between scores in each of resulting relationship subscales and measures of overall happiness in the respective relationships. It was also expected that data from this study would build upon the work of others (i.e., Youth Sport Institute at Michigan State University) in permitting an examination of the extent to which student athletes are content across several relationships concurrently.
Method
Participants
Participants were 198 athletes from 3 high schools (N=91) and a university (N=107) in the Southwestern United States who agreed to participate in this study. The mean age of the athletes was 18.2 years (SD = 2.4). One hundred and twenty six of these athletes were female (64%). Of the 192 athletes who disclosed their ethnicity (97% of the sample), 158 were Caucasian (82.3%), 18 were Hispanic American (9.4%), 12 were African American (6.3%), and 4 were Asian American (2%). Relevant to their primary sport, 67 athletes were soccer players (33.8%), 50 were swimmers/divers (25.3%), 28 were softball players (14.2%), 23 were baseball players (11.6%), 22 were basketball players (11.1%), and the remaining 8 were volleyball players (4%). Most had played in their primary sport prior to 11 years of age (78%), and 158 (81%) had participated in sports for at least 6 years.
Materials
Overall Ratings of Participants' Happiness in Relationships with Their Coaches, Family, Peers, and Teammates. To assist in assessing athlete perceptions of their general happiness in relationships with their coaches, family, peers, and teammates, participants were instructed to separately indicate the degree to which they were happy, overall, with their coach, family, peer, and teammate relationships utilizing a percentage scale (0 % = completely unhappy, 100% = completely happy). Single item measures of relationship satisfaction have been found to have good reliability, and have closely corresponded with comprehensive measures of...
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