Relationships among Perceived Parental Engagement, Coaches’ Coaching Style, Competitive Rumination, Burnout and Moral Behavior of Student-Athletesd

Abstract

: Background: Student-athletes’ moral behavior is shaped by significant others and cognitive-emotional responses to competition, yet the pathways linking parental engagement, coaching style, competitive rumination, burnout, and moral behavior remain unclear. This study examined the relationships among perceived parental engagement, autonomous and controlling coaching, competitive rumination, burnout, and moral behavior in sport. Methods: 483 student-athletes (Mean age = 15.96, SD = 1.43) registered with the Korea Olympic Committee completed validated questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Results: Parental engagement positively predicted competitive rumination ( β = 0.177, p < 0.01) and prosocial behavior ( β = 0.356, p < 0.001), while negatively predicting burnout ( β = − 0.162, p < 0.001) and antisocial behavior ( β = − 0.155, p < 0.01). Autonomous coaching negatively predicted burnout ( β = − 0.338, p < 0.001) and positively predicted prosocial ( β = 0.214, p < 0.05) and antisocial behavior ( β = 0.245, p < 0.01), whereas controlling coaching predicted burnout ( β = 0.408, p < 0.001). Competitive rumination positively predicted burnout ( β = 0.187, p < 0.001). Burnout was the strongest predictor, negatively predicting prosocial behavior ( β = − 0.342, p < 0.01) and positively predicting antisocial behavior ( β = 0.661, p < 0.001). Burnout also mediated the effects of autonomous coaching (prosocial = 0.082; antisocial = − 0.174), parental engagement (0.035; − 0.074), controlling coaching ( − 0.324; 0.689), and competitive rumination ( − 0.043; 0.091) on moral behavior. Conclusions: Burnout emerged as the key mechanism linking parental engagement and coaching behaviors to student-athletes’ moral behavior. Reducing burnout, particularly through autonomy-supportive coaching, may be an effective strategy for fostering moral development in youth sport.