The relational foundation of self-determined drive in adolescent athletes: linking perceived relationship with parents to autonomous motivation.

BACKGROUND: The motivational orientation of adolescent athletes is a primary determinant of their long-term trajectories, yet the precise mechanisms through which the relational foundation provided by parents is internalized into a self-determined drive remain underexplored. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the psychological pathways between the perceived relationship with parents and autonomous motivation, specifically examining the sequential mediating roles of global self-esteem and domain-specific athletic identity among elite youth soccer players. METHODS: Data were collected from 237 elite male high school soccer players affiliated with the Korea Football Association (KFA). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the direct and indirect associations within the hypothesized serial mediation framework, and a bootstrapping procedure with phantom variable modeling was used to isolate specific indirect effects. RESULTS: Perceived relationship with parents significantly and positively was associated with both self-esteem and autonomous motivation. Although parental influence did not directly predict athletic identity, it exhibited a significant indirect effect through the mediation of self-esteem. Furthermore, the sequential mediation analysis confirmed a significant serial path: a positive perception of the parental relationship was first linked to the athlete's foundational self-esteem, which in turn could support a robust athletic identity, ultimately associating with higher levels of autonomous motivation. CONCLUSION: For external familial support to be effectively linked to a self-determined motivational orientation, it may need to be associated with global self-esteem and specialized role-identification. These findings suggest that practitioners and parents should prioritize the cultivation of an athlete's global self-worth as a prerequisite for developing a resilient athletic identity and sustaining high-quality motivation in competitive sports environments.