Description

The Sport Climate Questionnaire (SCQ-15) is part of the Perceived Autonomy Support: The Climate Questionnaires and is designed to assess athletes’ perceptions of the autonomy support provided by their coach, trainer, or sport/exercise instructor. It examines whether the interpersonal climate encourages choice, understanding, openness, and personal initiative.

Purpose and Structure

The SCQ is available in a 15-item long form and a 6-item short form. The short version consists of items 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 14 from the full questionnaire. Its wording can be adapted to the specific coach, trainer, or physical-activity context being studied.

The instrument assesses important aspects of autonomy-supportive coaching, including providing choices, understanding the athlete’s perspective, encouraging questions, listening, communicating confidence, demonstrating personal care, and supporting open expression.

Scoring and Data Analysis

In the provided version, responses are recorded on a 6-point rating scale, ranging from Strongly Disagree toward increasing levels of agreement, with a neutral midpoint indicated in the questionnaire.

Scores can be used to represent the athlete’s overall perception of the autonomy-supportive sport climate, with higher scores generally reflecting stronger perceived autonomy support. Statistical analysis may include descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlations, and comparisons between groups.

Applications

The SCQ-15 is particularly relevant to research in sport psychology, coaching, motivation, athlete development, and Self-Determination Theory, where perceived autonomy support can be examined in relation to motivation, engagement, performance, and psychological well-being.

Tags: SCQ-15, Sport Climate Questionnaire, Autonomy Support, Coaching, Athletes, Sport Psychology, Motivation, Self-Determination Theory, Psychometric Assessment