The role of task presentation on basic psychological needs and well-being in college soccer players.

This study tested a model that analyzed the associations between the task presentation provided by the coach, the satisfaction of athletes' psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, and satisfaction with life and sport burnout. A total of 706 soccer players (530 men and 175 women; M-age = 17.76 years; SD = 2.18) belonging to different teams representing a public university in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, participated. The results of the structural equation analysis found that the quality of task presentation was positively and significantly related to the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs (ss(autonomy) =.59, p <.001; ss(competence) =.30, p <.001; ss(relatedness) =.60, p <.001). In turn, satisfaction of the needs for autonomy (ss =.31, p <.001), competence (ss =.16, p <.001) and relatedness (ss =.22, p <.001), were positively and significantly associated with athletes' life satisfaction, whereas the relationship of the three psychological needs was negatively and significantly associated with sport burnout (ss(autonomy) = -.16, p <.001; ss(competence) = -.14, p <.001; ss(relatedness) = -.30, p <.001). The results are discussed in the light of Self-Determination Theory, and it was concluded that the quality of task presentation performed by the coach has important repercussions on the psychological health of his soccer players.