Differences in the relationship among grit, self-regulation, competition preparation, and sport confidence across performance levels: a multi-group analysis.

In the literature on high-competition sports, some evidence has been suggested regarding the relationships between athletes' grit, self-regulation, competition preparation, and confidence. However, there has been a lack of integrated approaches to examine the relationships among these variables, and the performance level of athletes have not been considered. Therefore, this study (a) analyzed the structural relationships between grit, self-regulation, competition preparation, and confidence, and (b) investigated how these relationships vary according to athletes' performance levels. Participants were 270 student-athletes (209 males, 61 females) from various sports, all of whom were involved in highly competitive sports in South Korea. Athletes who had won at least one national-level competition were classified into the medal winner group (n = 112), while those without such experience were classified into the non-medal winner group (n = 158). Multi-group analysis showed that the structural relationships among grit, self-regulation, competition preparation, and confidence varied according to the athletes' performance levels. In the medal winner group, self-regulation fully mediated the effect of competition preparation on confidence, whereas in the non-medal winner group, the mediation was partial. Furthermore, the path estimates for self-regulation, competition preparation, and confidence were found to be greater in the medal winner group. This study highlights that coaches should understand athletes' performance levels and apply appropriate strategies accordingly.