Organizational stressors predict competitive trait anxiety and burnout in young athletes: Testing psychological resilience as a moderator

Abstract

The experience of athlete burnout is influenced by the psychosocial dynamics within sports organizations. Factors relevant to the stress-burnout process need to be explored to guide the development of effective strategies for preventing or reducing athlete burnout. The study aim was to examine how levels of psychological resilience influence the relationships among organizational stressors, competitive trait anxiety, and burnout symptoms in athletes. Within a correlational study design, a survey of 506 young athletes (mean age = 21.3 years) collected data on psychological resilience, organizational stressors, competitive trait anxiety, and athlete burnout (reduced sense of accomplishment, sport devaluation, emotional/physical exhaustion). A conditional process analysis was conducted to test whether competitive trait anxiety mediated the association between organizational stressors and athlete burnout and its dependence on psychological resilience levels. The results indicated that organizational stressors could contribute to burnout symptoms as they could induce high levels of competitive trait anxiety in athletes (indirect effect = .08–.11, Sobel Z = 3.58–5.41). For athletes with higher levels of psychological resilience, the indirect effect of organizational stressors on athlete burnout via competitive trait anxiety was weaker. These results highlight the importance of psychological resilience and competitive trait anxiety in understanding how organizational stressors relate to burnout in athletes. Sports practitioners are recommended to develop resilience-training interventions to support individuals encountering organizational stressors in sport.