Front Psychol. 2026 Aug 6;17:1911170. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1911170. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
Elite sport increasingly requires athletes to manage large volumes of competition-relevant information under conditions characterized by uncertainty, time pressure, and continuous adaptation. Although previous research has identified important perceptual, cognitive, and motivational foundations of athletic expertise, less attention has been given to how supportive coaching environments are associated with athletes’ ability to organize and use competition-relevant information. Drawing on Information Scaffolding Theory, this cross-sectional study examined whether perceived coach support is linked to competitive information processing through regulatory information management capability, and whether competitive pressure functions as a boundary condition. Survey data were collected from 500 Chinese competitive athletes from elite university, provincial elite, and national elite sport settings. Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived coach support was positively associated with regulatory information management capability and competitive information processing. Regulatory information management capability showed a positive indirect association between perceived coach support and competitive information processing. Conditional indirect effects were statistically significant at low, mean, and high levels of competitive pressure; however, the index of moderated mediation was not significant, indicating that the hypothesized moderation by competitive pressure was not supported. The findings are consistent with a statistical mediation model in which coach support and self-regulatory information management are linked with competitive information processing. Because the design is cross-sectional and based on self-report data, the results should be interpreted as associative rather than causal.
PMID:42625568 | PMC:PMC13489832 | DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1911170
