An Integrated Analysis of Environmental, Team, and Parental Relations on Psychosocial Skills Development and Their Association With the Mental Health of Adolescent Athletes.

The development of psychosocial skills in youth athletes is related to multiple sports' subsystems, including parental, team, and environmental factors. These subsystems shape athletes' ability to acquire life skills, cope with stress, and build resilience which influence mental health. Understanding these interactions is essential for designing effective interventions that promote well-being and protect against mental illness. This study examined how subsystems within the youth sport system relate to psychosocial skills and their relation to athletes' mental health. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed, and Structural Equation Modeling analyzed pathways. Validated instruments assessed parenting behavior (EMBU-P), coach-athlete relationship (CART-Q), life skills (LSSS), coping (ACSI-28), resilience (SRS), sport well-being (S-MHC), and psychosocial difficulties (SDQ). The sample comprised 312 athletes (13.9 ± 1.9 years) from two Brazilian regions, one from a nationally renowned club and another from a microregion. Athletes from the microregion reported lower levels of life skills, but higher levels of psychological resilience and greater psychosocial difficulties. The coach-athlete relationship played an essential role in fostering life skills and sport well-being. Parenting behavior was positively associated with life skills and coping skills and negatively related to psychosocial difficulties. Life skills, coping skills and psychological resilience were positively associated with sport well-being, reinforcing their role in psychosocial adaptation. Psychological resilience was the only skill linked to reducing psychosocial difficulties. The findings highlight the distinct, positive roles of the coach-athlete relationship and parenting behavior in fostering psychosocial skills, while underscoring the complex (something opposing) influence of the region and type of sport on specific skills.