The mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction in the link between parental expectations and competitive state anxiety among adolescent tennis players

초록

Introduction Pre-competitive anxiety is a critical psychological factor affecting adolescent athletes' performance and well-being. Although perceived parental expectations have been linked to athletes' anxiety, the psychological mechanisms underlying this association remain insufficiently understood. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory and Multidimensional Anxiety Theory, this study examined whether basic psychological needs satisfaction mediates the relationship between perceived parental expectations and pre-competitive state anxiety among adolescent tennis players.Methods A total of 492 junior high school tennis players (Mage = 13.2 years) completed the Parental Expectations Questionnaire, the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale, and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. Structural equation modeling and the SPSS PROCESS macro were used to test the mediation model, with bias-corrected bootstrapping applied to estimate indirect effects.Results Perceived parental expectations significantly and positively predicted pre-competitive state anxiety (beta = 0.153, p = 0.001). Basic psychological needs satisfaction partially mediated this relationship, with parental expectations negatively predicting overall needs satisfaction (beta = -0.147, p = 0.010). Parallel multiple mediation analysis further showed that, among the three basic psychological needs, only competence satisfaction served as a significant and stable indirect pathway (beta = 0.014, 95% CI [0.001, 0.034]). Although perceived parental expectations also negatively affected autonomy satisfaction, the indirect effects through autonomy and relatedness were not statistically significant.Discussion These findings suggest that elevated parental expectations may increase adolescent athletes' pre-competitive anxiety primarily by undermining their perceived competence. The results highlight the importance of reducing rigid performance-oriented parental pressure and fostering a mastery-oriented coaching environment that supports athletes' competence, self-efficacy, and psychological readiness before competition.

키워드