Motivation has been the subject of much research in the sport psychology literature,
whereas athlete mental health has received limited attention. Motivational complexities
in elite sport are somewhat reflected in the mental health literature, where there is
evidence for both protective and risk factors for athletes. Notably, few studies have
linked motivation to mental health. Therefore, the key objective of this study was to test
four mental health outcomes in the motivational sequence posited by the Hierarchical
Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: motivational climate!basic psychological
needs!motivation!mental health outcomes. Elite team-sport athletes (140 females,
75 males) completed seven psychometric inventories of motivation-related and mental
health variables. Overall, the athletes reported positive motivational patterns, with
autonomous motivation and task climate being more prevalent than their less adaptive
counterparts. Elevated depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality affected nearly half
of the cohort. Structural equation modeling supported pathways between motivational
climate, basic needs, motivation, and mood, depressive symptoms, sleep quality, and
trait anxiety. Specifically, a task climate was positively associated with the three basic
psychological needs, and an ego climate was positively associated with competence.
Autonomy and relatedness had positive and negative associations with autonomous
and controlled forms of motivation, respectively. Controlled motivation regulations were
positively associated with the four mental health outcomes. Integrated regulation had
a negative association with anxiety, and intrinsic regulation had a positive association
with depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the complexities of and interrelations
between motivation and mental health among athletes, and support the importance of
considering mental health as an outcome of motivation