The Effect of Social Support on Adolescent Athletes Engagement: Self-Efficacy and Mental Toughness of the Chain Mediated Effects

Abstract

Abstract To explore the relationship between social support and adolescent athlete engagement and the role of self-efficacy and mental toughness in this relationship. A convenience sampling method was used to administer the athletes' received social support questionnaire, general self-efficacy scale, mental toughness inventory, and athletic engagement questionnaire to adolescent athletes in seven youth sports schools in China, and 513 valid questionnaires were collected. 1) After controlling for the effects of adolescent athlete age and sport level, regression analyses revealed that social support positively predicted adolescent athlete engagement; 2) Self-efficacy and mental toughness mediated the relationship between social support and adolescent athlete engagement, and this mediation consisted of three pathways: parallel mediation of both self-efficacy and mental toughness, and chain mediation of both self-efficacy and mental toughness. The mediating effects model constructed in this study can inform the promotion of youth athlete engagement levels, which can be crucial for improving youth athlete engagement in the future by enriching youth athletes' social support networks, enhancing self-efficacy, and developing mental toughness levels.