Awareness and use of motivational interviewing reported by Canadian university sport coaches

Abstract

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a communication strategy to facilitate behaviour change yet MI research in sport is scant. This study investigated awareness and use of MI by coaches in Canadian university sport using a non-experimental design. Less than one-third of the male (30.2%) and one-quarter of the female (20.0%) coaches reported awareness of MI with a similar pattern noted for male (32.0%) and female (25.8%) coaches’ reported use of MI. No sex-based differences in MI awareness and use were evident (p's > .05). Overall, low awareness and use of MI reported by coaches have implications for designing coach education programs.

Keywords

• self-motivation
• coach-athlete communication
• behaviour change
• coach education