{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T12:01:40Z","timestamp":1780488100179,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":66,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]],"date-time":"2024-12-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735603200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the Spring of 2020, Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) was officially declared a global pandemic, which prompted an unprecedented number of changes to societal functioning. Amongst those who experienced significant life alterations were collegiate athletes within the United States (US). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between US athletes\u2019 perceptions of their team motivational climate, perceived support from coaches and teammates, and their optimistic thoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic. US collegiate athletes (N = 756; 56.3% female; Mage = 20.07 years, SDage = 1.57 years) across a variety of levels (e.g., Division I) and sports (e.g., basketball) were invited to participate in this study. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed significant positive associations between a caring and task-involving climate, athletes\u2019 feeling supported by their coaches and teammates, and athletes\u2019 optimistic thoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, an ego-involving climate was significantly negatively associated with athletes\u2019 feeling supported by their coaches and teammates. The final results suggest that the supportive actions of coaches and teammates during difficult times can mediate the positive connection between perceptions of a caring-task-involving climate on athletic teams and an athlete\u2019s ability to stay optimistic during difficult life stressors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22010046","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]],"date-time":"2024-12-31T13:26:25Z","timestamp":1735651585000},"page":"46","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Athletes\u2019 Perceived Team Climate, Social Support, and Optimistic Thoughts During the COVID-19 Pandemic"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6046-6254","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chelsi E.","family":"Scott","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mary D.","family":"Fry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2081-8566","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Troy O.","family":"Wineinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9574-5862","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susumu","family":"Iwasaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health and Human Performance, School of Arts and Sciences, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO 81301, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6563-5291","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Haiying","family":"Long","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-0007-0220","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Theresa C.","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"618","DOI":"10.1002\/hpm.3145","article-title":"Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of university students","volume":"36","author":"Ihm","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. 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