Understanding the basis for sport friendships in adapted sport athletes: Does fulfilling basic psychological needs matter?

Objective Characteristics of social relationships such as friendship quality have important motivational implications within the context of sport (c.f., McDonough & Crocker, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT; Deci & Ryan, 2002) as a framework for understanding friendship quality amongst athletes competing in adapted sport. Methods Participants (N = 51; 55.80% male) drawn from cohorts reporting either a congenital or acquired disability completed a self-report instrument on a single occasion assessing perceived competence, autonomy and relatedness experienced when engaged in adaptedsport. The instrument also contained the Sport Friendship Quality Scale (SFQS; Weiss & Smith, 1999) to assess perceived friendship quality in sport. Results: Bivariate correlations revealed a pattern of moderate-to-strong correlations between the five SFQS dimensions and a weak-to-moderate pattern of associations between indices of psychological need satisfaction. Simultaneous multiple regression models indicated that perceptions of psychological need satisfaction accounted for small-to-moderate amounts of the variance in the five SFQS constructs. Perceived relatedness was the dominant predictor of sport friendship quality irrespective of the SFSQ dimension investigated with the strongest association evident with SFSQ-Companionship and Pleasant Play and the weakest with SFSQ-Conflict. Conclusion Overall, this study offers initial support for the role of BPNT's psychological needs within the realm of adapted sport as a vehicle for understanding sport friendships. It appears that perceived relatedness with fellow athletes in adapted sport contexts is a plausible route for developing secure friendships within the realm of adapted sport. The extent to which perceptions of autonomy and competence matter in relation to friendship experiences within adapted sport contexts beyond perceived relatedness warrants further inquiry.