Abstract
The present study analyzed the relationships among material difficulties, job insecurity, work meaning and the mental health of sports coaches. Participants for this study were 200 coaches (120 men and 80 women, aged between 18 and 60 years, M = 41.04, SD = 8.71). The instruments used were (a) The Difficulties List, (b) Qualitative Job Insecurity, (c) Quantitative Job Insecurity, (d) The Work and Meaning Inventory, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales. Statistical analysis was performed through SPSS 24. The results obtained by three multiple mediations showed that material difficulties were not directly associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Although qualitative job insecurity mediates the relationship between material difficulties and mental health (β = 0.14, p < 0.01 for depression, β = 0.17, p < 0.01 for anxiety, and β = 0.14, p < 0.01 for stress) quantitative job insecurity and work meaning do not mediate this relationship but had significant direct effects. The conclusions of the study led to the need for material and psychological support for coaches to have a meaningful activity, so that they could achieve significant performance with their athletes.
Highlights
Sports coaches play a key role in the athletes’ lives
Data organization and statistical analysis for hypothesis testing were performed through SPSS 24 [32] and Jamovi [33]
The normal distribution of the dependent variable was tested with the values for skewness and kurtosis which had acceptable limits (−3, 3) for skewness and (−10, 10) for kurtosis: −0.12 and −0.27 for material difficulties, 50 and −0.94 for qualitative job insecurity, 0.87 and 0.07 for quantitative job insecurity, −0.84 and 6.67 for work meaning, 2.07 and 6.62 for depression, 1.92 and 4.23 for anxiety, 1.27 and 1.68 for stress
Summary
In addition to specialized support, planning activities and organizing sports training, coaches are real mentors or role models for the athletes who they work with, providing inspiration, motivation and meaning. For this reason, coaches, as trainers of athletes who will perform at national, international, or Olympic level, should enjoy a balanced mental health and a high level of well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought, among other negative changes, the need for online work in most areas of activity In this context, coaches have an extremely difficult mission; firstly, they should learn how to use specific platforms and applications for online training; secondly, they should monitor the progress of the athletes they work with. Santi et al, analyzing 2272 Italian coaches, observed how the ability of coaches to reevaluate the situation created by the pandemic period helped them reduce their stress experience [1]
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