Highlights • TDE features (TDEQ-5), motivational climate, and psychological safety were all linked to athlete development outcomes. • Motivational climate and psychological safety did not significantly affect relationships between TDE features and outcomes. • Long-term focus, communication and social network seem especially relevant for athlete-related development outcomes. Abstract From a holistic perspective, the talent development environment (TDE) influences not only the athletic development but also the development of personal skills as well as the wellbeing of elite youth athletes. Alongside research on the effects of broader environmental features on athlete-related talent development (TD) outcomes, the importance of the closer social climate (i.e., teammates, coaches, support staff) is also emphasized. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between environmental features, the social climate and athlete-related TD outcomes (I). Additionally, an exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate the role of motivational climate and psychological safety in the relationship between environmental features and athlete-related TD outcomes (II). To this end, 345 German elite youth athletes completed an online survey assessing their perceptions of environmental features, coach-created motivational climate, and psychological safety as well as wellbeing, performance satisfaction, and life skills development. The results revealed that environmental features (especially long-term development focus, effective coach-athlete communication, and the social network), motivational climate and psychological safety were all significantly associated with the outcome variables. These findings underline the significance of environmental features for athlete-related TD outcomes of young talented athletes in German elite youth sports. However, the results indicated that motivational climate and psychological safety did not have significant indirect effects on the relationship between TDE features and athlete-related TD outcomes. Thus, it remains to be questioned if and what other processes influence this relationship.
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