Abstract
The depletion of self-control competencies has been explained by an external shift in motivation, and recent research has emphasized that controlled types of motivation and self-control competencies are positively associated with exhaustion in youth athletes. Using the self-determination theory (SDT) and self-control theories, this study examined associations between athletes' motivation, self-control competencies, and exhaustion experiences throughout a competitive season. A total of 321 winter sport youth athletes (173 males, 98 females, and 50 unknown gender; aged 16 to 20 years, M = 17.98, SD = 0.89) participated in this 10-week longitudinal study, including three time points. Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, associations between athletes' reported level of motivation regulations, self-control, and exhaustion throughout their competitive season were examined in two mediation models. Constructs were associated in a conceptual and consistent manner. Simple mediation models showed credible indirect and direct effects of motivation on exhaustion via self-control within amotivation, and intrinsic, integrated, identified, and external regulation analyses. These credible effects were not replicated in the focused mediation model, when controlling for self-control and exhaustion autoregressive effects. However, direction of effects in both models was consistent and congruent. Findings consistently supported the interplay between motivation and exhaustion via self-control in youth athletes over an important competition period of the year. Autonomous and controlled motivation interacted with self-control and, respectively, predicted perceived exhaustion negatively and positively. Thus, autonomous self-control motives are important in preventing negative sport participation development over time. However, simple and focused mediation models showed different results, suggesting a necessity for accurate considerations of analytical methods chosen to investigate longitudinal mediation. Specifically, future studies need to carefully consider the time interval between measurement time points when investigating changes in dynamic psychological constructs, and include autoregressive longitudinal effects in order to predict change in levels of the outcome over time.
Highlights
In the development of elite performance, young athletes are continuously challenged by social, psychological, and physical demands
Exhaustion has been viewed as the core dimension of burnout (Gustafsson et al, 2016; Lundkvist et al, 2017), and based on the self-control depletion literature (e.g., Baumeister and Vohs, 2016) the current study investigated exhaustion experiences of athlete burnout related to athletes’ motivation and self-control competencies
Recent research findings argue that investigating the specific motivation regulations will provide detailed information beyond investigating one global factor of motivation
Summary
In the development of elite performance, young athletes are continuously challenged by social, psychological, and physical demands. Social, physiological, and educational demands and stressors, and they may lack proper family support attending elite sport colleges far away from home (Martinent and Decret, 2015) In this achievement context, they may participate in activities for pleasure and inherent satisfaction without emphasizing the external control (Ryan and Deci, 2000). SDT is based on the assumption that there are three types of autonomous motivation regulations (i.e., intrinsic, integrated, and identified), two types of controlled motivation regulations (i.e., introjected and external), as well as a non-regulated type of motivation (i.e., amotivation; Ryan and Deci, 2000) These types of motivation are located on a self-determination continuum, reflecting the degree to which individuals have internalized the reason why they participate in an activity. In elite sport contexts, high levels of autonomous and controlled motivation may be advantageous (Gillet et al, 2012; Jordalen, 2017), and as their motivational profile develops, young athletes’ self-control competencies may help them (Briki, 2016)
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