INTRODUCTION: The ways in which coaches relate to their athletes, and the achievement standards they emphasize, have an impact on athletes` well-being. Thus, grounded in achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1989), the purpose of this investigation was to examine how Norwegian swimmers perceived their coaches` behavior and the corresponding motivational climate, and how these influenced a range of well-being parameters (e.g., burnout, vitality, and positive/negative affect). METHODS: A total of 202 male and female Norwegian swimmers (ages 14- 24) completed a battery of questionnaires (e.g., Motivational Climate Scale for Youth Sports, CBAS-PBS, Athlete Burnout Questionnaire, Subjective Vitality Scale, and the PANAS). RESULTS: We conducted a canonical correlation analysis to determine the multivariate association between the two sets of variables. The perceived motivational climate was the predictor variable. Athletes` perceptions of coaching behavior and a range of well-being parameters (e.g., burnout, vitality, and positive and negative affect) were the criterion variables. The multivariate relationship was significant, Wilk`s = .43 F (40, 360) = 4.7 p< .001. The canonical function emerged with a canonical correlation, rci, of .70 (49 % overlapping variance) and a redundancy index of 30. DISCUSSION: Consistent with earlier findings, athletes who perceived coaching behaviors that emphasized positive reinforcement, mistake-contingent encouragement, corrective instruction given in a positive and encouraging fashion, and proper technical instruction perceived a mastery climate. In contrast, coaching behaviors that emphasized punitive technical instruction were positively correlated with an ego climate. However, perception of a mastery climate was also positively correlated with coaching behaviors that emphasized non-reinforcement, punishment, and ignoring mistakes. Further, our findings indicated that there was a positive relationship between an ego climate and the three dimensions of burnout. We also found a positive relationship between a mastery climate, vitality, and positive affect. All coaches should, therefore, strive to create a mastery climate in youth sports that promotes athletes` well-being and optimizes their achievement motivation.
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