PURPOSE This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of psychological needs in the relationship between multiple coaching styles and teamwork among college football players. METHODS This cross-sectional study involved 526 elite football players. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, path analysis, and macroprocess were performed using statistical software to test the mediation effects of the data collected. RESULTS The findings suggested that autonomy-supportive and structure coaching styles positively correlated with and impacted psychological needs satisfaction and teamwork. Conversely, control and chaos coaching styles negatively correlated with and impacted psychological needs satisfaction and teamwork. In addition, autonomysupportive and structure coaching styles negatively correlated with and impacted psychological need frustration, while control and chaos styles positively correlated with and impacted psychological needs frustration. Furthermore, psychological needs satisfaction and frustration were found to partially mediate the relationships between autonomy support and teamwork, structure and teamwork, control styles and teamwork, and chaos styles and teamwork. CONCLUSIONS Autonomysupportive and structure coaching styles positively influenced teamwork by satisfying psychological needs. In contrast, control and chaos coaching styles negatively impacted teamwork by contributing to psychological needs frustration.
