RELATIONS OF COACH-ATHLETE RELATIONSHIP’ QUALITY AND ATHLETE PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

The innate tendency for forming social relations is also reflected in the area of sports. The sport itself represents a significant context for meetng other people, forming and maintaining relatonships. This paper is aimed to review and interpret current literature results on coach-athlete relatonships quality and its relatons to aspects of athlete psychosocial functoning. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA) guidelines, the literature search of different electronic databases yielded a total of 56 studies. The findings underline several aspects of athlete psychosocial functioning connected with coach-athlete relationships. Among others, it is revealed that positive relationships with coaches contribute to different aspects of athlete motivation and satisfaction manifested in higher performance and intention to continue with sports activities. It is also detected that beter relationships with coaches protect athletes from stress, burnout and negative affect guarding their mental health. Relationships with coaches also shape the way an athlete perceives himself, coach and team. The results highlight the unique contribution of coach-athlete relationships to athlete life and activities which may serve as a useful guide to future research in sports.