Young children's motivations and social cognitions toward swimming: Testing direct and moderation effects of sport competence in two large-scale studies.

Direct and moderation effects of swimming competence using an integrated model of self-determination theory (SDT) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) were examined in two large-scale studies among young children. Specifically, we examined whether swimming competence had direct and moderation effects on social psychological variables of perceived need support, autonomous motivation, TPB social cognition constructs, and intention. In Study 1, using a cross-sectional survey of 4959 primary school children, swimming competence formed significant positive relationships with all model variables (ß =.061 to.330, p < .05) except intention (ß = -.009, p > .05), and its moderation effect on model parameters were small in size or not statistically significant. In Study 2, using a pre-post-test quasi-experiment among 1,609 primary school children, improvement of swimming competence was associated with change-scores in all model variables (ß =.046 to.230, p < .05) except subjective norm (ß =.049, p > .05). Swimming competence did not significantly moderate the parameter estimates of the integrated model (p > .05) at the change-score level. Findings indicate that swimming competence is associated with higher autonomous motivation; TPB social cognitions of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control; and intention. However, swimming competence did not moderate the parameter estimates of the integrated model.

Understanding the antecedents of healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviours: Grit, motivation and self-control.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the psychological antecedents or personal factors that lead to weight control behaviours that can help to develop more effective prevention strategies. DESIGN: The present correlational study has a non-experimental, quantitative, cross-sectional design. A model was tested considering types of motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation and amotivation) as mediators in the relationship between the Grit personality and healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviours, with self-control as a moderator in the aforementioned indirect effects. SETTING: Monterrey (Nuevo León, México). PARTICIPANTS: A representative sample of 1219 adults (men = 599; women = 620) aged 18-65 years (M = 29·37, sd = 11·83). RESULTS: Findings supported the mediator role of the types of motivation. Specifically, Grit showed a positive indirect effect on healthy weight control behaviours through autonomous motivation. Conversely, Grit showed a negative indirect effect on unhealthy weight control behaviours through autonomous motivation. Furthermore, findings supported the moderator role of self-control in the relationship between amotivation and healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the key role of Grit in the adoption of healthy or unhealthy control behaviours, as well as the role of autonomous motivation in the development of healthy behaviours.

Motivational climate, need satisfaction, self-determined motivation, and physical activity of students in secondary school physical education in China.

BACKGROUND: On the basis of the integration constructs from self-determination theory (SDT) and achievement goal theory (AGT), this study aims to investigate the relationship among classroom motivational climate from four perspectives (i.e. autonomy support, relatedness support, task-involving climate and ego-involving climate), three psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence and relatedness), self-determined motivation and physical activity (PA) in secondary physical education (PE). METHODS: Participants consisted of 1186 Chinese students aged 11 to 16 years from three secondary schools in Shanghai. Accelerometers were utilized to measure moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Questionnaires were used to measure SDT variables (i.e. classroom motivational climate, perceived competence, autonomy, relatedness and self-determined motivation). Structural equation modelling (SEM) was adopted to analyse the hypothesised relationship. RESULTS: SEM analysis revealed that task-involving climate and autonomy support were positively associated with autonomy, relatedness and competence. Relatedness support was positively related with autonomy and relatedness, whereas ego-involving climate was only associated with competence. The three psychological needs positively affected self-determined motivation, and self-determined motivation positively affected the MVPA time of secondary school students in PE lessons. CONCLUSION: These findings support a model of motivation that integrates SDT and AGT, provides new insight into understanding MVPA in Chinese PE, and establishes a solid basis for intervention research.

Searching for Autonomy before the Transition to Higher Education: How do Identity and Self-Determined Academic Motivation Co-Evolve?

Identity and academic motivation are particularly at stake before the major transition to higher education. However, few studies have explored their changes and their longitudinal bidirectional links. To fill this gap, a three-wave study from the end of the 11th grade to the end of the 12th grade was conducted to explore changes in identity processes and academic motivation and to investigate how they might be interconnected over time. 599 adolescents (mean age 17.4; 59% girls) completed questionnaires containing measures about identity processes and three types of academic motivation: autonomous, controlled, and impersonal. Throughout the study span of one year, four identity processes increased: commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth and exploration in depth, while the process of ruminative exploration decreased. Simultaneously, late adolescents encountered an increase in impersonal motivation, more salient for boys. The results also revealed unidirectional links from motivation to identity processes, with no gender or age moderator effects: exploration in breadth and exploration in depth were positively predicted by autonomous motivation, ruminative exploration was positively predicted by autonomous, controlled, and impersonal motivation. In addition, impersonal motivation negatively predicted commitment making. On the other hand, identification with commitment positively predicted autonomous motivation. Practical implications are discussed.

Effect of autonomy support and dialogic learning on school children's physical activity and sport.

This study applies an intervention based on autonomy support through dialogic learning to examine effects on motivation and the promotion of physical activity and sport involvement during schoolchildren's leisure time. One hundred and two primary school students, aged 11-13 years, participated (M = 10.93, SD = 0.75). The sample was divided into two groups: an experimental group (49 students) and a control group (53 students). A quasi-experimental study was conducted in physical education classes over the course of 9 months. Assessments of autonomy support from teachers, family, and peers; basic psychological needs; self-determined motivation in physical education and during leisure time; planned behavior variables; physical activity intention; and estimated and actual physical exercise behavior time were included in the model. Following the intervention, the results revealed that greater autonomy support by the teacher, the family and peers, satisfaction of the basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation during physical education class and during free time, greater perceived control, favorable attitude and intention to engage in physical activity contributed to the explanation of student physical activity involvement. These results suggest that when students receive extensive social support from diverse social agents that essential precursors to physical activity are strengthened and contribute to increased motivation and actual physical activity involvement. Efforts to promote effective communications with students and other pedagogical efforts, such as providing dialogic learning opportunities, should be considered in order to strengthen physical activity motivation and involvement in students.

Ahead of the game protocol: a multi-component, community sport-based program targeting prevention, promotion and early intervention for mental health among adolescent males.

BACKGROUND: There is a recognised need for targeted community-wide mental health strategies and interventions aimed specifically at prevention and early intervention in promoting mental health. Young males are a high need group who hold particularly negative attitudes towards mental health services, and these views are detrimental for early intervention and help-seeking. Organised sports provide a promising context to deliver community-wide mental health strategies and interventions to adolescent males. The aim of the Ahead of the Game program is to test the effectiveness of a multi-component, community-sport based program targeting prevention, promotion and early intervention for mental health among adolescent males. METHODS: The Ahead of the Game program will be implemented within a sample drawn from community sporting clubs and evaluated using a sample drawn from a matched control community. Four programs are proposed, including two targeting adolescents, one for parents, and one for sports coaches. One adolescent program aims to increase mental health literacy, intentions to seek and/or provide help for mental health, and to decrease stigmatising attitudes. The second adolescent program aims to increase resilience. The goal of the parent program is to increase parental mental health literacy and confidence to provide help. The coach program is intended to increase coaches' supportive behaviours (e.g., autonomy supportive behaviours), and in turn facilitate high-quality motivation and wellbeing among adolescents. Programs will be complemented by a messaging campaign aimed at adolescents to enhance mental health literacy. The effects of the program on adolescent males' psychological distress and wellbeing will also be explored. DISCUSSION: Organised sports represent a potentially engaging avenue to promote mental health and prevent the onset of mental health problems among adolescent males. The community-based design, with samples drawn from an intervention and a matched control community, enables evaluation of adolescent males' incremental mental health literacy, help-seeking intentions, stigmatising attitudes, motivation, and resilience impacts from the multi-level, multi-component Ahead of the Game program. Notable risks to the study include self-selection bias, the non-randomised design, and the translational nature of the program. However, strengths include extensive community input, as well as the multi-level and multi-component design. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12617000709347 . Date registered 17 May 2017. Retrospectively registered.

Attending and avoiding dental appointments: Do "bright" and "dark" motivational paths have a role?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test a self-determination theory (SDT) process model of the "bright" and the "dark" motivational pathways through dental attendance or avoidance to oral health. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 322 students from all study disciplines at the University of Oslo. Participants responded to a survey with validated questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to test the SDT model, and a bootstrapping procedure was used to test the indirect links in the model. RESULTS: Along the "bright" path: Autonomy support at the dental clinic was positively associated with need satisfaction in treatment, which was positively associated with autonomous motivation for dental treatment and reappraisal of dental anxiety. Further, autonomous motivation was positively related to dental attendance, which in turn predicted oral health. Also, both autonomous motivation and reappraisal of anxiety were negatively related to avoiding dental appointments. Along the "dark" path: Conditional regard at the dental clinic positively predicted need frustration in treatment, which positively predicted dental anxiety. In turn, dental anxiety positively predicted avoiding appointments, along with the negative predictions by autonomy and anxiety reappraisal. Finally, oral health was negatively predicted by avoiding appointments. A bootstrapping procedure indicated that all indirect links in the model were supported. A SEM fit the data very well. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the high level of explained variances for dental attendance (42%) and avoiding dental appointments (52%), promoting autonomy support and avoiding conditional regard at the dental clinic may be important for patients' oral health.

Is motivation for marathon a protective factor or a risk factor of injury?

This research investigated whether and how self-determined motivation predicts perceived susceptibility to injury during competition (marathon). Two correlational studies including 378 (Study 1) and 339 (Study 2) marathon runners were conducted. Participants filled out a questionnaire the day before the race measuring self-determined motivation, perceived susceptibilities to marathon-related injury and to keep running through pain, and control variables. Study 1 showed that self-determined motivation was negatively related to perceived susceptibility to marathon-related injury. Study 2 replicated this finding and showed that this relationship was partially mediated by perceived susceptibility to keep running through pain during the race. Moreover, results indicated that the predictive role of self-determination was mostly driven by controlled forms of motivation, and more particularly external regulation. These results suggest that self-determined motivation for sport is a protective factor of injury.

Preventing occupational injury among police officers: does motivation matter?

BACKGROUND: Injury prevention is an important issue for police officers, but the effectiveness of prevention initiatives is dependent on officers' motivation toward, and adherence to, recommended health and safety guidelines. AIMS: To understand effects of police officers' motivation to prevent occupational injury on beliefs about safety and adherence to injury prevention behaviours. METHODS: Full-time police officers completed a survey comprising validated psychometric scales to assess autonomous, controlled and amotivated forms of motivation (Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire), behavioural adherence (Self-reported Treatment Adherence Scale) and beliefs (Safety Attitude Questionnaire) with respect to injury prevention behaviours. RESULTS: There were 207 participants; response rate was 87%. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that autonomous motivation was positively related to behavioural adherence, commitment to safety and prioritizing injury prevention. Controlled motivation was a positive predictor of safety communication barriers. Amotivation was positively associated with fatalism regarding injury prevention, safety violation and worry. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the tenets of self-determination theory in that autonomous motivation was a positive predictor of adaptive safety beliefs and adherence to injury prevention behaviours.

Self-determined motivation and exercise behaviour in COPD patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the self-determined motivation predictors of exercise behaviour following pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD recipients. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 135 COPD patients. A demographic questionnaire, clinical factors, behavioural regulations in exercise questionnaire, and leisure time exercise questionnaire were used to collect data. A logistic regression model was used to identify the predictors associated with demographics and self-determined motivation types regarding physical activity. Education level, episodes of acute exacerbation within 2 years, and identified regulation were significant predictors of executing physical activities with high metabolic equivalents. The results of this study imply that healthcare providers need to be aware of the importance of exercise motivation among COPD patients.

The relationship between fitness and health-related quality of life and the mediating role of self-determined motivation in overweight adolescents.

AIM: To examine the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among overweight adolescents and to test whether this relationship is mediated by body image (BI) and self-determined motivation for physical activity (PA) and exercise. METHODS: One hundred and twenty adolescents identified as overweight or obese were recruited through the school health service. The participants completed self-report instruments measuring HRQoL, BI and self-determined motivation for physical activity and exercise in addition to a 20 m shuttle-run test, and body mass index was calculated. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the hypothesised five-dimensional structure of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (BREQ-2) used to measure self-determined motivation. Associations between the study variables were explored using univariate linear regression. Mediation was tested by a multistage regression approach. RESULTS: The five-dimensional model of BREQ-2 showed acceptable fit for the data. We revealed a statistically significant association between cardiorespiratory fitness and HRQoL (4.16 [0.3-8.02]; p < .05). CRF failed to affect BI in the first mediation equation. Hence, body image was excluded from further analyses. However, self-determined motivation proved to mediate the relationship between CRF and HRQoL. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the motivational mechanisms related to fitness can contribute to explain the association between CRF and HRQoL in overweight adolescents. The findings are important from a public health point of view and should be taken into account in the development of PA interventions for overweight and obese adolescents for the potential enhancement of their physical and psychosocial well-being.

S'attaquer aux défis de l'adhésion aux principes de la saine alimentation.

The purpose of this article is to describe the impact of the research program entitled "Adherence to healthy eating recommendations: identification of measures, determinants and interventions". Beyond the main results described in this article, this program had a major impact on the training of graduate students. It was also a unique opportunity to develop and validate measurement tools relevant to nutrition research, and to make them available to the scientific community. Lastly, this program was a catalyst for establishing new collaborations and setting up larger-scale studies.

Relationships of mathematics achievement with self-determined motivation and mathematics anxiety among senior two students in Northern Rwanda.

The most important factors affecting students' mathematics achievement are affective-motivational factors. Grounded on self-determination theory, expectancy-value theory, and control-value theory, we examined the relationship between self-determined motivation (i.e., intrinsic motivation and career motivation) and mathematics anxiety (cognitive and affective components) with mathematics achievement. The authors examined the proposed relations using cross-sectional data of senior two (grade eight) students in Northern Rwanda. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the subscales adapted from the Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ and SMQ-II) confirmed a two-factor structure for mathematics anxiety and a two-factor structure for self-determined motivation. The adapted subscales showed good internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the adapted subscales can be used to assess intrinsic motivation, career motivation, and mathematics anxiety among Rwandan students in senior two. Based on the findings, mathematics anxiety is a two-dimensional construct comprising both cognitive and affective components, and these components differ in their relationship with mathematics achievement. Cognitive mathematics anxiety was negatively related to mathematics achievement more than affective mathematics anxiety; intrinsic motivation and career motivation were positively related to mathematics achievement. These findings suggest that teachers should promote more self-determined motivation among senior two students to improve their mathematics achievement. Additional longitudinal research is needed to determine whether the observed differential relationship patterns between mathematics anxiety components and mathematics achievement persist over time.

Analysis of motivational profiles of satisfaction and importance of physical education in high school adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the motivational profiles of satisfaction with and importance of physical education in high school students and its relation with gender and the practice of sport. The sample comprised 2002 students aged from 12 to 19 who completed the Sport Motivation Scale (Núñez et al., 2006), the Sport Satisfaction Instrument (Baena-Extremera et al., 2012) and the Importance of Physical Education Scale (Moreno et al., 2009). Descriptive analyzes, correlations between the scales, a cluster analysis for profiles, and a MANOVA were conducted to examine differences by gender. Three clusters (profiles) were identified. The first profile identified was "moderate" motivation (n = 463) and was associated with boys who practice physical activity for less than 3 hours per week. The second profile identified was "low" motivation (n = 545) and was associated mainly with girls who practice physical activity for less than 3 hours per week. And lastly the third profile identified was "high" motivation (n = 910), which was found to be greater in boys who practiced physical exercise for more than 3 hours a week.

Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climates, Mediating Psychological Processes, and Future Intentions of Sport Participation.

Based on the conceptual model of multidimensional and hierarchical motivational climate the objective of this study was to test two models. One model (M1) of total mediation, testing the mediating mechanisms that explain why the motivational climate affects intention of continuity or dropout. Specifically, we test the mediating role of satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs and self-determined motivation, in the relationship between the players' perception of the empowering and disempowering climate created by the coach, and the intention of young soccer players to continue/dropout the sport practice. The second model (M2) of partial mediation, contributes to knowing the mechanisms that link the antecedent variables included in the model (perceived empowering and disempowering motivational climate) and the outcomes (intention of continuity or dropout in sport). A total of 381 young male soccer players between 12 and 14 years of age (M = 12.41, SD = 0.89), completed a questionnaire package tapping into the variables of interest: players' perception of the motivational climate created by the coach (empowering and disempowering), satisfaction/thwarting of basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation and the intention to continue/dropout sports participation. The hypothesized model was tested using a structural equation model technique with latent variables. The results of the partial mediation model were satisfactory (χ2= 120.92; df = 68; RMSEA = 0.045; CFI = 0.968; TLI = 0.957) and showed that need satisfaction and self-determined motivation partially mediated the relationship between the perception of the empowering climate and the intention to continue. Moreover, need satisfaction showed a positive and significant relationship with the intention to continue sports participation. Additionally, need thwarting and self-determined motivation totally mediated the relationship between the perception of the disempowering climate and the intention to dropout. Furthermore, needs thwarting was positively and significantly related to the intention to dropout of sports participation. Findings point to the importance of fostering empowering climates and preventing the creation of disempowering climates in the grassroots football.

High School Students' Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior by Motivational Profiles Toward Physical Activity.

Purpose: Based on a Self-Determination Theory with a person-centered approach, the purposes were: (1) to identify motivational profiles toward physical activity (PA) among high school students, and (2) to compare students' accelerometer-measured PA and sedentary behavior (SB) levels between the motivational profiles toward PA. Methods: The present study followed a cross-sectional design. A total of 394 high school students (173 females; final sample = 360 and 198 for the purposes 1 and 2, respectively) aged 12-16 years completed the study. Participants' PA and SB levels were objectively measured by ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers (right hip) during seven consecutive days. Later, motivation toward PA was measured by the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire. Results: Based on a two-stage cluster analysis approach, the results identified three clusters: (1) "Self-determined motivational profile toward PA" (65.3%); (2) "Non-self-determined motivational profile toward PA" (23.9%), and (3) "Controlled motivational profile toward PA" (10.8%). The results of the chi-square test showed that a statistically significantly higher percentage of males were represented in cluster 1 (p < .001). The results of the one-way analysis of variance showed that students from cluster 1 had statistically significantly lower levels of SB, and higher levels of light PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA and total PA than those from cluster 2 (p < .05; |d| = 0.40-0.61). Conclusions: In line with the Self-Determination Theory, the students within the self-determined motivational profile had lower SB and higher PA. This preliminary evidence could inform and guide future policy regarding students' PA promotion.

Children's Enjoyment, Perceived Competency, and Vigorous Physical Activity During High-Intensity Interval Training in Physical Education.

Purpose: Little is known about children's experience with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) during elementary school. Perceptions of enjoyment, perceived competence, and motivation are likely to drive long-term adherence and are, therefore, critical to understanding how HIIT might be implemented in this setting. The purpose of this study was to describe children's vigorous physical activity (VPA), enjoyment, and perceived competency of HIIT activities within a Self-Determination Theory framework (autonomy) in elementary school physical education (PE) classes. Methods: Participants were 402 children from a single, diverse elementary school (49.4% female, 59.6% Non-Hispanic white). Student enjoyment and perceived competency were collected following teacher- (non-autonomous) and student-led (autonomous) conditions. A sub-set of 201 children wore accelerometers to measure percent of time in VPA during HIIT conditions. This mixed factorial design was assessed through a series of repeated measures ANOVAs. Results: While children reported generally positive enjoyment and perceived competence in both conditions (rating over 4.0 on a 5-point scale), children significantly enjoyed (d = 0.44) and felt more competent (d = 0.11) during the autonomous HIIT condition compared to the nonautonomous HIIT condition. In contrast, the percent of time in VPA (d = 0.94) was significantly lower in the autonomous condition. Conclusions: These data illustrate a challenging trade-off with the design of HIIT trials. Increasing autonomy through the inclusion of student choice increased enjoyment and perceived competence of HIIT, which are likely to improve adherence, but lowered VPA, which is likely to reduce cardiometabolic impact.Abbreviations: U.S.: United States; PA: Physical activity; MVPA; Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; PE: Physical education; CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Randomized control trial, RCT; SDT: Self-Determination Theory; HIIT: High-intensity interval training; RCT: Randomized control trial; VPA: Vigorous physical activity; IRB; Institutional Review Board; HFZ: Healthy Fitness Zone; PACES: Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale; M: Mean; SD: Standard deviation.

Validity and reliability evidence for the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire with Romanian professional athletes.

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance attributed to athletes' motivation in sports performance and well-being; no measures of motivation toward sport were found in the Romanian sport context. OBJECTIVE: Grounded in self-determination theory, this research aimed to adapt and to gather validity and reliability evidence supporting the use of the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ) in the Romanian sport domain. METHOD: The participants were 596 Romanian professional athletes (age: M = 22.91, SD = 5.84; sports experience: M = 11.14, SD = 5.03), who 273 practiced individual sports and 323 team sports. They completed an online questionnaire survey assessing their perception of behavioral regulation, resilience and burnout in sport. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the six-factor correlated model, which was invariant across age and sport. Correlations among latent factors configured a simplex structure, underpinning the self-determination continuum. Average variance extracted values from .50 to .70 endorsed convergent validity. Scores for heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations as high as .88, as well as 95% confidence intervals of each interfactor correlation that did not include 1.00 supported discriminant validity. Values over .70 for Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega and Raykov's coefficients showed a good level of reliability for each factor. Linear regression analysis revealed that while intrinsic motivation, integrated regulation and identified regulation positively predicted resilience, introjected regulation, external regulation and amotivation positively predicted burnout. CONCLUSIONS: The BRSQ is shown to be a valid and reliable measure of the six types of behavioral regulation in the Romanian sport context.

The Predictive Role of Perceived Support from Principals and Professional Identity on Teachers' Motivation and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study.

The aim of this study was to estimate the influence of perceived support from principals and teacher professional identity (TPI) on teacher's motivation, vigour and burnout using a longitudinal design during a school year. A sample of 544 secondary teachers reported their perceived support from principals and TPI at the beginning of the year (T1) and their self-determined motivation, vigour, and burnout both at the beginning (T1) and at the end of the year (T2). Structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that the support from principals was associated with T1 TPI. T1 TPI only partially predicted T2 self-determined motivation (controlling T1 scores), and T2 self-determined motivation was associated with T2 burnout and vigour (controlling T1 scores). The SEM revealed a positive process involving perceived support from principals, pedagogical expertise, autonomous motivation, and well-being indicators. In summary, the present study extends the knowledge about the teacher well-being process and the role of contextual and individual antecedents. In an applied perspective, to prevent burnout, teachers need efficient initial and continuing pedagogical education to be armed in front of the students and need the support of their principals during the school year.

The Quantity and Quality of Anxiety Are Mediating Variables between Motivation, Burnout and Fear of Failing in Sport.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect mediated by self-determined motivation on an athlete's burnout, anxiety and fear of failure. To this end, the sample group consisting of 235 semi-professional yachtsmen and women was asked to answer four questionnaires which set out to assess each of the study's variables: Behavioural Regulation in Sport Questionnaire, Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory, Sport Anxiety Scale-2 and Athlete Burnout Questionnaire. The ex-post facto research was designed to analyse a single group based on structural equation modelling (SEM) between the constructs under analysis. The results illustrate that behavioural regulation could be used to positively predict burnout and fear of failure mediated by sport anxiety. Moreover, behavioural regulation has a significant, positive and moderate bearing on burnout and is wholly mediated by sport anxiety. It concludes by underscoring the point that there is no relationship either between behavioural regulation and burnout or between behavioural regulation and fear of failure, unless the athlete in question experiences anxiety.