Abstract

This study investigated associations between the use of maintenance strategies and relationship quality within coach-athlete dyads. A total of 251 participants (146 athletes and 105 coaches) were administered the Coach-Athlete Relationship Maintenance Questionnaire (CARM-Q) to measure the use of conflict management, openness, motivational, preventative, assurance, support, and social network strategies and the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) to measure closeness, commitment, and complementarity. The use of openness and social networks strategies were found to be associated with closeness. The use of motivational and support strategies were linked with commitment. Complementarity was associated with the use of the preventative strategy. Conflict management and assurance were found to play more significant roles for coaches than athletes. The implications of these findings are considered along with some suggestions for further research. Verf.-Referat