Abstract
The burnout syndrome is a negative experience for athlete development and it has been demonstrated that it gets worse when a sport is practiced in an obsessive way. Interventions with a positive view towards sports could be a protective factor to boost the athlete’s wellbeing. The aim of the present study was to analyse the mediator effect from social support, the relationship between the burnout, positivity and passion in young Mexican athletes. The sample was composed by 452 Mexican athletes, males and females (women 45%), from 12 to 18 years of age (M = 16.29, SD = 1.66). Participants answered the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire, The Scale of the Social Support Perceived by Athletes, the Passion Scale and the Positivity Scale. The results of structural equation modeling showed a good adjustment model (χ2 = 889.213; df = 274; χ2/df = 3.245; p ˂ 0.01; CFI = 0.93; TLI = 0.91; IFI = 0.94; NFI = 0.91; RMSEA = 0.07). The harmonious passion presented direct and indirect effects on the burnout, being the perceived social support the mediator variable of the indirect effect. The positivity resulted positive predictor from the social support (β = 0.714, p ˂ 0.001) and social support predicted the burnout (β = −0.270, p ˂ 0.005). The obsessive passion had a direct effect over burnout (β = 0.627, p ˂ 0.001). Developing negative commitments to sports could be an indicator of a greater risk of experiencing individual conflicts that lead to sports burnout.
Highlights
To achieve success in sports, the athlete is exposed to undergo a very demanding training regime since a very young age [1]
The results indicate that positivity has an indirect effect on the burnout syndrome in young Mexican athletes, based in a model where the mediator variable was the perceived social support
The perceived social support was a mediator between the effects of the harmonious passion and burnout
Summary
To achieve success in sports, the athlete is exposed to undergo a very demanding training regime since a very young age [1]. As a result of 50 years of investigation dedicated to the development of burnout in the sport context, researchers have achieved a consensus regarding the definition of burnout [6], which has derived in a measurement of burnout for general use: the Athlete. It established burnout as a tridimensional cognitive-affective syndrome characterized by the physical and mental exhaustion, a reduced sense of achievement and devaluation of the sports practice [6]. This definition has its similarities with the Maslach and Jackson definition [8], with a difference in the depersonalization dimension, which in the sports context it is understood as attitudes of devaluation of the sports practice
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