Journals / Akdeniz Spor Bilimleri Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 9 Sayı: 1

Coach–Athlete Relationship and Challenge and Threat Levels in Team-Sport Athletes: A Correlational Study

Takım Sporcularında Antrenör–Sporcu İlişkisi ile Sporda Mücadele ve Tehdit Düzeyleri Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

Seda Nur Turhal(AVRASYA ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0003-1910-5702
Furkan Çamiçi(HITIT UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF SPORTS SCIENCE)0000-0001-5397-9732
Pages
1–23
Publication Date
2026-10-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Consequently, it was determined that, amongst team athletes, a more positive perception of the coach-athlete relationship is associated with a higher challenge appraisal, whilst the relationship with the assessment of threat is weaker and varies according to the subdimensions of the relationship.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between coach-athlete relationships and levels of challenge and threat appraisal in team sports.
📊
Key Findings & Data:The sample comprised a total of 209 athletes participating in football, basketball, volleyball, handball, rugby and other team sports.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Consequently, it was determined that, amongst team athletes, a more positive perception of the coach-athlete relationship is associated with a higher challenge appraisal, whilst the relationship with the assessment of threat is weaker and varies according to the subdimensions of the relationship.
🔬Design:Survey & Empirical Study
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Antrenör-Sporcu İlişkisi · Mücadele · Tehdit Değerlendirmesi

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between coach-athlete relationships and levels of challenge and threat appraisal in team sports. The study was designed according to the correlational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The sample comprised a total of 209 athletes participating in football, basketball, volleyball, handball, rugby and other team sports. Data were collected using the Personal Information Form, the Coach-Athlete Relationship Scale and the Challenge and Threat in Sport (CAT-Sport) Scale. In addition to descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test and Spearman’s rank correlation analysis were used to analyse the data. The Holm correction was applied to control for the Type I error rate that may arise from multiple comparisons. The findings showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the sub-dimensions of challenge, threat and the coach-athlete relationship based on gender, age, sport, national team status, years in sport, length of time with the current team and length of time with the current coach. Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships between the challenge appraisal and the sub-dimensions of the coach-athlete relationship: closeness and trust (ρ=0.310), communication (ρ = 0.270) and harmonious collaboration (ρ = 0.340). Low-level, statistically significant negative correlations were found between threat assessment and closeness and trust (ρ=-0.160) and collaborative working (ρ=-0.200), whilst no significant correlation was found with communication. These relationships, which were found to be significant, retained their statistical significance even after the Holm correction. Consequently, it was determined that, amongst team athletes, a more positive perception of the coach-athlete relationship is associated with a higher challenge appraisal, whilst the relationship with the assessment of threat is weaker and varies according to the subdimensions of the relationship.

Özet

Bu araştırmanın amacı, takım sporcularının antrenör-sporcu ilişkileri ile sporda mücadele ve tehdit değerlendirmesi düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkilerin incelenmesidir. Araştırma, nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden ilişkisel tarama modeline göre tasarlanmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini futbol, basketbol, voleybol, hentbol, ragbi ve diğer takım sporlarında yer alan toplam 209 sporcu oluşturmuştur. Veriler Kişisel Bilgi Formu, Antrenör-Sporcu İlişkisi Ölçeği ve Sporda Mücadele ve Tehdit Ölçeği kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde tanımlayıcı istatistiklerin yanı sıra Mann-Whitney U testi, Kruskal-Wallis H testi ve Spearman sıra korelasyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Çoklu karşılaştırmalardan kaynaklanabilecek Tip I hata oranını kontrol etmek amacıyla Holm düzeltmesi uygulanmıştır. Bulgular, cinsiyet, yaş, spor dalı, millî sporcu olma durumu, spor yaşı, mevcut takımla çalışma süresi ve mevcut antrenörle çalışma süresine göre mücadele, tehdit ve antrenör-sporcu ilişkisi alt boyutlarında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılık bulunmadığını göstermiştir. Spearman korelasyon analizi sonucunda mücadele değerlendirmesi ile antrenör-sporcu ilişkisinin yakınlık ve güven (ρ = 0,310), iletişim sağlama (ρ = 0,270) ve uyumlu çalışma (ρ = 0,340) alt boyutları arasında pozitif yönde anlamlı ilişkiler belirlenmiştir. Tehdit değerlendirmesi ile yakınlık ve güven (ρ = -0,160) ve uyumlu çalışma (ρ = -0,200) arasında düşük düzeyde negatif yönde anlamlı ilişkiler bulunurken, iletişim sağlama ile anlamlı bir ilişki saptanmamıştır. Anlamlı bulunan bu ilişkiler Holm düzeltmesi sonrasında da istatistiksel anlamlılığını korumuştur. Sonuç olarak, takım sporcularında daha olumlu antrenör-sporcu ilişkisi algısının daha yüksek mücadele değerlendirmesiyle ilişkili olduğu, tehdit değerlendirmesiyle ilişkilerin ise daha zayıf düzeyde ve ilişkinin alt boyutlarına göre farklılaştığı belirlenmiştir.

🔖

Cite This Article

Turhal, S. N., Çamiçi, F. (2026). Coach–Athlete Relationship and Challenge and Threat Levels in Team-Sport Athletes: A Correlational Study. Akdeniz Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 1, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.38021/asbid.2042412

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (25)

  1. Akın, G., & Karadağoğlu Topal, Ç. (2025). Evaluation of sport anxiety and the coach–athlete relationship in football players. *Journal of Exercise and Sport Sciences Research, 5*(2), 98–107.
  2. Aktop, M., Arslan, H., & Şimşek, E. (2026). Dövüş sporcularında antrenör–sporcu ilişkisinin demografik değişkenlere göre incelenmesi. *Erciyes Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, 2*, 49–61.
  3. Baker, J., Côté, J., & Hawes, R. (2000). The relationship between coaching behaviours and sport anxiety in athletes. *Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 3*(2), 110–119.
  4. Cho, S., Choi, H., & Kim, Y. (2019). The relationship between perceived coaching behaviors, competitive trait anxiety, and athlete burnout: A cross-sectional study. *International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16*, Article 1424. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16081424
  5. Coussens, A. H., Stone, M. J., & Donachie, T. C. (2025). Coach–athlete relationships, self-confidence, and psychological wellbeing: The role of perceived and received coach support. *European Journal of Sport Science*, Article e12226. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsc.12226
  6. Duyan, M. (2021). The effect of coach-athlete relationship on performance of combat athletes. *International Journal of Eurasian Education and Culture, 6*(15), 2491–2515. https://doi.org/10.35826/ijoecc.515
  7. Ekenci, G., Ekenci, M. T., & Yücel, M. G. (2017). Antrenör-sporcu ilişkisi ölçeğinin Türkiye için geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik analizi. *Akademik Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 5*(40), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.16992/ASOS.11959
  8. Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. *American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5*(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11
  9. Gürbüz, B., Akoğlu, H. E., Öncü, E., & Özbek, O. (2021). Adaptation of the Challenge and Threat in Sport Scale into Turkish: A validity and reliability testing study. *Sportif Bakış: Spor ve Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 8*(3), 417–430. https://doi.org/10.33468/sbsebd.254
  10. Jowett, S., & Ntoumanis, N. (2004). The Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q): Development and initial validation. *Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 14*(4), 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2003.00338.x
  11. Kamis, H., Ahmad Radzi, J., & Mohd Kassim, A. F. (2021). Does coaching effectiveness and coach-athlete relationship moderate the anxiety among athletes? *Jurnal Sains Sukan & Pendidikan Jasmani, 10*(2), 19–25. https://doi.org/10.37134/jsspj.vol10.2.3.2021
  12. Karasar, N. (2012). *Bilimsel araştırma yöntemi*. Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık.
  13. Kassim, A. F., Ramalan, A. M., Ahmad, M. F., Japilus, S. J., Radzi, J. A., & Omar, S. S. (2022). Coaching effectiveness and coach–athlete relationship model offers possibilities solution for competitive anxiety of young athletes. *Malaysian Journal of Movement, Health & Exercise, 11*(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.4103/mohe.mohe_3_21
  14. Nano, J. B., Garcia, G. J. D., & Intong, D. M. S. (2026). The relationship between coaching behavior and sports anxiety in college athletes. *Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 24*(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.9734/arjass/2026/v24i1854
  15. Özkan, R. (2023). Antrenör-sporcu ilişkisinin özgüven üzerindeki etkisi. *ROL Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, 4*(2), 633–643. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7928528
  16. Reyes-Hernández, O., Tristán, J., López-Walle, J. M., & García-Mas, A. (2021). Team dynamics perceptions, motivation, and anxiety in university athletes. *Sustainability, 13*, Article 648. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020648
  17. Rossato, C. J. L., Uphill, M. A., Swain, J., & Coleman, D. A. (2018). The development and preliminary validation of the Challenge and Threat in Sport (CAT-Sport) Scale. *International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16*(2), 164–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2016.1182571
  18. Simons, E. E., & Bird, M. D. (2023). Coach-athlete relationship, social support, and sport-related psychological well-being in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student-athletes. *Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 17*(3), 191–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2022.2060703
  19. Thelwell, R. C., Wagstaff, C. R. D., Chapman, M., & Kenttä, G. (2017). Examining coaches’ perceptions of how their stress influences the coach-athlete relationship. *Journal of Sports Sciences, 35*(19), 1928–1939. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1241422
  20. Thelwell, R. C., Wagstaff, C. R. D., Rayner, A., Chapman, M., & Barker, J. (2017). Exploring athletes’ perceptions of coach stress in elite sport environments. *Journal of Sports Sciences, 35*(1), 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1154979
  21. Tomczak, M., & Tomczak, E. (2014). The need to report effect size estimates revisited. An overview of some recommended measures of effect size. *Trends in Sport Sciences, 21*(1), 19–25.
  22. Varol, S., & Türkmen, M. (2021). Bocce lig sporcularının antrenör ilişki düzeyi ile sporda prososyal ve antisosyal davranış düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkinin değerlendirilmesi. *International Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies, 7*(1), 19–34.
  23. Wang, X., Sun, Z., Yuan, L., Dong, D., & Dong, D. (2024). The association between team behaviors and competitive anxiety among team-handball players: The mediating role of achievement goals. *Frontiers in Psychology, 15*, Article 1417562. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1417562
  24. Yayla, R. (2024). *Profesyonel ve amatör sporcuların zihinsel dayanıklılıkları ile sporda mücadele ve endişe durumları arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi* [Yüksek lisans tezi]. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi.
  25. Yıldız, A. B. (2021). *Futbolcularda duygusal zekânın atletik zihinsel enerjiye etkisinde antrenör-sporcu ilişkisinin aracılık rolü* [Doktora tezi]. Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi.