Temporal dynamics of the quality of the coach-athlete relationship over one season among adolescent handball players: a latent class analysis approach

Résumé En

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal evolution of the quality of the coach-athlete relationship (CAR), in terms of athletes’ perceptions of commitment, closeness, and complementarity, over a 1-season period. More precisely, the intra-individual temporal dynamic of the quality of the CAR was explored in three complementary ways: (1) mean change in the whole sample, (2) inter-individual differences between athletes, and (3) intra-individual stability and/or change of CAR profiles. Method. Eighty handball players (Mage = 16.15; 78% boys) involved in intensive training centres completed a measure of the quality of the CAR across three time points (beginning, middle, and ending of the season). Data were analysed using latent class growth and latent profile transition analyses. Results. Latent class growth analyses indicated that athletes’ perceptions of closeness and complementarity linearly decrease – on average – over the season, whereas those of commitment decreases in a quadratic way (U-shape). In addition, results revealed three distinctive athletes’ trajectories for closeness and complementarity, and four for commitment, suggesting inter-individual differences in the intra-individual evolution of the perceived quality of the CAR. Finally, latent profile transition analyses highlighted the existence of four distinct CAR profiles, and revealed that most athletes displayed the same profile over the season, but some of them changed their profile over time. Conclusion. As a whole, these results highlighted the dynamic aspect of athletes’ perceived quality of the CAR, suggesting that this relationship is likely to evolve in different ways over a season in intensive training context.