The Associations Between Talent Development Environments and Psychological Skills in Iranian Youth Athletes: A Variable and Person-Centered Approach

in International Sport Coaching Journal

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Russell Martindale School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, United Kingdom

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Chunxiao Li School of Physical Education and Sports Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

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Georgios Andronikos School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, United Kingdom

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Marziyeh Jafari Faculty of Physical Education & Sports Sciences, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

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Rokhsareh Badami Faculty of Physical Education & Sports Sciences, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2022-0053
Keywords:
TDEQ; validity; CFA; predictive
First Published Online:
14 Jan 2023
In Print:
Volume 10: Issue 2
Page Range:
154–162
Restricted access

The environment plays a significant role in the development of talent athletes. A big part of this is preparing athletes with the psychological skills to cope and thrive through the challenges of their sporting journey. Understanding which features of the talent development environment (TDE) best facilitate psychological skill use would be extremely useful for coaches to understand. As such, the main aim of this research was to investigate the relationships between TDE factors and psychological skills through a variable and person-centered approach (i.e., use of both regression and cluster analyses). A second aim was to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian Talent Development Environment Questionnaire-5 (TDEQ-5) providing an initial validation for its use in Persian speaking cultures. To this end, the TDEQ-5 and Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports—Youth version—Short Form were administered to 371 Iranian athletes. The results showed that higher quality TDEs predicted higher psychological skill use. Specifically, holistic quality preparation predicted all five psychological skills, while long-term development predicted anxiety control and alignment of expectations predicted self-confidence. The Persian TDEQ-5 was found to be a valid and reliable tool. Implications for coaches and those in charge of TDEs are discussed.

Martindale (r.martindale@napier.ac.uk) is corresponding author.

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