title: Quality of life, coach behaviour and competitive anxiety in Winter Youth Olympic Games participants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To ensure the highest technical performance, speed, safety, excellent control and to improve competitive performance, a successful regulation of competitive anxiety is necessary. Therefore, it seems crucial to identify factors influencing competitive anxiety of adolescent athletes. Research suggests that people reporting high quality of life are more capable to cope with stressful and challenging situations than others. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of quality of life, the involvement of parents in sports career and coach's leadership behaviour on competitive anxiety in Winter Youth Olympic Games participants.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the first Winter Youth Olympic Games 2012 in Innsbruck/Austria, 662 (316 women) participants completed questionnaires and single items to assess quality of life, coach's leadership behaviour, parental involvement in sports career and competitive anxiety.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multiple regression analysis revealed positive influences of high quality of life and useful coach instruction on competitive anxiety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relationship between quality of life, coach behaviour and competitive anxiety in young elite athletes competing at the first Winter Youth Olympic Games should be considered in long-term programmes for reducing competitive stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck 6020, Austria. larissa.ledochowski@uibk.ac.at
authors.forename: Larissa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ledochowski
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Unterrainer
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruedl
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schnitzer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kopp
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000523:psychology; D001317:Austria; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011788:Quality of Life; D038161:Snow Sports / Q000523:psychology*; D013178:Sports Medicine