Abstract
Self-determination theory (SDT) describes the influence of one’s social environment on their well-being and development through the satisfaction or frustration of their psychological needs. This study investigates how athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ behaviors influence their psychobiological health through psychological needs. By further integrating heart rate variability (HRV), a psychobiological marker of the autonomic nervous system balance, we further SDT-based research by providing a nuanced understanding of coaching behaviors’ effect on athletes’ chronic and acute stress responses. We used a daily diary design spanning two weeks of training and multilevel modeling to analyze data from 72 student-athletes. We found that perceptions of autonomy-supportive coaching behaviors led to greater overall need satisfaction, which then predicted engagement and prevented burnout. Perceptions of controlling coaching behaviors led to greater need frustration and, indirectly, increased burnout. At the between-individual level, perceptions of controlling coaching behaviors were associated with a greater increase in acute stress, while perceptions of autonomy-supportive behaviors were not. Our results entail that continuous exposure to controlling coaching behaviors can be detrimental to athletes’ physiological system. Surprisingly, when coaching behaviors were held constant, need frustration was negatively associated with change in acute stress. Athletes reporting greater need frustration may disengage and show a blunt stress response, potentially reflecting a coping mechanism in response to need frustration. Our findings highlight the complex interplay between coaching behaviors, psychological needs, and autonomic nervous system balance within the SDT framework, deepening our understanding of athletes’ experiences and promoting adaptive coaching strategies to foster their well-being.