Investigating the Mediating Role of Cohesion in the Relationship between Athlete Leadership and Athlete Satisfaction in Youth Sport

摘要

The purpose was to examine whether cohesion served as a mediator between athlete leadership and athlete satisfaction in youth sport. Participants were 205 competitive youth sport athletes ranging from 13-17 years old (Mage = 15.01 years). Participants completed the Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS; Chelladurai u26 Saleh, 1980), the Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire (YSEQ; Eys, Loughead, Bray, u26 Carron, 2009), and the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ; Riemer u26 Chelladurai, 1998). Structural equation modelling was used to test for mediation. Overall results indicated that task cohesion mediated the relationships between formal and informal task athlete leadership behaviours and task athlete satisfaction outcomes, while social cohesion mediated the relationship between formal and informal social athlete leadership behaviours and social athlete satisfaction outcomes. Findings from the present study augment the group dynamics literature as theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.