Abstract
Perceived coach autonomy support is consistently associated with adaptive athlete functioning, but the specific link to burnout and its subgroup consistency remain less clear. Guided by self-determination theory (SDT), this study tested whether basic psychological need satisfaction formed a theoretically ordered indirect association between perceived coach autonomy support and athlete burnout, and whether that indirect association differed by gender or sport type. We analysed three-phase self-report data from 430 Chinese university athletes (230 men, 200 women; 291 individual-sport, 139 team-sport) from three institutions. The study had institutional review board approval (Ref. No. IRB/D-2667; 27 August 2024), and all participants provided informed consent. Analyses included a parcel-level three-factor confirmatory factor analysis, reliability and discriminant-validity checks, bias-corrected bootstrap estimation of the indirect association (5000 resamples), indices of moderated mediation, and interaction-sensitivity calculations. The parcel model showed close fit, χ2(24) = 25.80, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.013. The standardized indirect association was -0.295, 95% CI [-0.373, -0.221]. No statistically detectable moderation emerged for gender (index of moderated mediation = -0.109, 95% CI [-0.261, 0.037]) or sport type (0.046, 95% CI [-0.120, 0.211]). The findings are consistent with basic psychological need satisfaction as a proximal statistical link between perceived coach autonomy support and burnout in this sample. They do not establish causal mediation, subgroup equivalence, or intervention effects.