Interpersonal behaviors in sports context: Spanish adaptation and measurement invariance.

Introduction: The interpersonal behavior questionnaire (IBQ) is an instrument that measures support and thwarting interpersonal behaviors based on the self-determination theory (SDT). The aim of this work was to adapt the IBQ to the Spanish spoken in Mexico and to examine its psychometric properties (structural validity, discriminant validity, composite reliability, factorial invariance, and nomological validity) in a sample of athletes. Methods: For this purpose, 472 athletes (average age 17.15 years; SD = 1.47) completed a question booklet. Results and discussion: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the structure of six related factors, three factors of behaviors that support autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and three factors of behaviors that thwarting them. The internal consistency of each factor was also supported, as well as the average variance extracted. However, the discriminant validity between the factors of competence and relatedness in their dimensions of support, on the one hand, and thwarting, on the other, is questioned. Factorial invariance was confirmed across gender (men and women) and sport type (individual and team). Nomological validity is in accordance with theory and empirical literature. More studies of the IBQ in sport are necessary to see if these results are a fortuitous product or if they manifest themselves consistently.

Adaptive Social Factors and Precompetitive Anxiety in Elite Sport.

Grounded in achievement goal theory and self-determination theory, the aim of this study was to analyze the motivational determinants of precompetitive anxiety in the sports context, considering the horizontal motivational sequence: adaptive social factors (task-involving climate, autonomy support style), competence need, types of motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, amotivation), and consequences (precompetitive anxiety and self-confidence). This study was also conducted in order to analyze the mediating role of the need for competition and motivational regulations on social factors and consequences. The sample consisted of 217 athletes of both sexes engaged in elite sport, who answered a series of questionnaires to measure study variables to develop an analysis of the structural equation model. The results showed that both the task-involving climate and autonomy support were associated with competence need, and competence need was associated with autonomous motivation in a positive way and with controlled motivation and amotivation in a negative way. On the other hand, autonomous motivation was positively associated with self-confidence, while amotivation was positively related to somatic and cognitive anxiety before a competition. Furthermore, there was a total mediation of competence need and autonomous motivation between task climate and self-confidence. In conclusion, these social factors favor self-confidence, and besides, these climates disfavor anxiety before a sport competition.