How Coping Resource Reduces Athletes' Burnout in Sport Settings: The Mediating Role of Life Stress

Abstract

Introduction: In the sporting context, athletic burnout is an imperative issue concerned by many researchers and sport-related personnel. Notably, college student-athletes are a unique population that requires special attention as they might experience stress and develop burnout if they do not have the coping resources to deal with both academic and sport demands. It has been generally accepted that seeking social support is a form of coping strategy when athletes are faced with competitive pressure (Crocker, 1992) or in a poor performance phase (Madden, Kirkby, & McDonald, 1989). When athletes are stressed, the social support provided by athletes' significant others can reduce or lower the negative effects of stress, however limited studies examined the mechanism of how social support influences athlete burnout. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine whether social support have life stress-mediated influences on athletes' burnout. Methods: A total of 244 (74 females, 170 males) Division A college student-athletes representing six different sports (tennis, taekwondo, track and field, archery, basketball, baseball) were recruited (Mage=19.98, SD=1.37). All participants voluntarily completed the Student-Athletes Social Support Scale, College Student-Athletes Life Stress Scale (CSALSS), and Athletes Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ). Preliminary analyses were conducted using SPSS 18.0 and mediation analyses were conducted using Mplus 7.0 statistical software with structural equation modeling. Results: (a) All types of social support negatively predicted sport life stress and burnout; (b) Daily and sport life stress positively predicted burnout; (c) Daily life stress did not have mediating influence on the relationship between any types of social support and burnout; (d) Sport life stress fully mediated the relationship between all types of social support and burnout. Conclusion: In order to effectively prevent athletes from burning out, coaches, trainers, or related competitive sport personnel should understand the type of stressors that causes athletes' burnout before providing athletes with the appropriate social support required.