Determining the Attachment Styles of Football Coaches to Their Athletes

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to determine the attachment styles of soccer trainers to their athletes according to various variables. The relationship between the trainers and their athletes is an important element to act in line with the goals, in this context, determining the attachment styles will create an awareness for the trainers and will provide support for the development of the trainers in order to raise successful and mentally healthy athletes in the long term. The research sample consists of 406 licensed male football coaches who are actively performing as trainers in football at different levels and age groups. In the study, a questionnaire was created using the trainer-athlete attachment scale to determine the personal information form attachment styles to collect the demographic characteristics of football coaches. SPSS 25 program was used to analyze the data. It was determined that the data were distributed normally, and the t-test and the One-way ANOVA test was used to compare independent groups. Tukey test was used as a complementary post-hoc analysis to determine the difference after the ANOVA test. The significance level in the analyses was determined to be p <0.05. While there was a significant difference in attachment styles of the trainers according to marital status, number of weekly training and years of coaching; no significant difference was found according to the variables of age, education level and coaching level. As a result, it was found that coaches who are married and train 6 times and more in a week have good problem-solving skills in their interpersonal relationships, have a positive approach to problems, are constructive while solving problems, are self-confident, do not evade responsibility, and have an insistent attitude in solving problems. Trainers can help athletes develop their positive emotions and life satisfaction with healthy evaluations and positive/optimistic thoughts. It is thought that the sharing environment that develops as a result of the cooperation and efforts made in line with common goals in sports environments, especially in training, increases the level of coach-athlete relationship.