Enhancing Young Athletes’ Psychological Well-being from Coach-athlete Relationship: A Systematic Review

Objectives: Psychological well-being (PWB) is vital for young athletes’ development, and coach-athlete relationship (CAR) plays a key role in it. How CAR affects PWB of young athletes is rarely discussed. The aim was to explore the specific mechanisms in which the CAR affects the PWB of young athletes and to make a summarization on these ways.
Methods: We conducted an electronic literature search of the EBSCOhost SPORTDiscus database. We searched all articles containing the terms “coach-athlete relationship”, “youth athletes” and “psychological well-being”. We analyzed these articles and summarized the specific mechanisms on how CAR affects the PWB of young athletes.
Results: We summarized four aspects of mechanisms that the CAR affects the PWB of young athletes based on the systematic analysis of relevant articles. Firstly, CAR could affect sports satisfaction, which has a certain impact on the PWB of young athletes. Secondly, good CAR could foster good relationships among fellow young athletes which was important to build up good PWB. Thirdly, skill development acts as a mediating role in CAR and PWB of young athletes. CAR could effectively improve skills and reduce burnout, which was crucial for young athletes. Finally, the merits and experience of coaches also have an impact on young athletes imperceptibly, thus stimulating their PWB.
Conclusion: We explored the specific mechanisms in which the CAR affects the PWB of young athletes. Our findings could help to create positive CAR and to build up the PWB of young athletes.