Relationship Between A Burnout Syndrome Evaluation And Hopelessness In Mexican College Athletes.

Abstract

PURPOSE: To find the relationship between Burnout Syndrome and Hopelessness. METHODS: 307 Mexican college athletes were evaluated by trained psychologists with a battery which included a Sport Burnout Syndrome Inventory (conformed by 18 items; divided in 3 factors: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (D) and Reduced Personal Realization (RPR); qualified in 4 grades: “Low Risk”, “Moderated Risk”, “High Risk” and “With Burnout”) and Beck’s Hopelessness Scale (conformed by 20 items; qualified in 4 grades: “Normal”, “Slight”, “Moderated” and “Severe”). Multinomial logistic regression was performed to associate the components scores of burnout syndrome and the hopelessness results. RESULTS: The association between “Moderated Risk” of Burnout Syndrome risk and “Slight Hopelessness” were statistically significant in EE Factor (p=0.02). Likewise, “High Risk” scores in RPR (p=0.002) and “With Burnout” punctuations in D (p=0.03) seem to be predictors of “Slight Hopelessness”. On the other hand, “High Risk” scores in EE was associated with “Moderated Hopelessness” (p=0.04). We did not obtain “Severe” evaluated athletes in our sample. CONCLUSIONS: Beck’s Hopelessness Scale is an instrument that allows us to identify some indicators associable with the risk of committing suicide. Our results suggest that our college athletes do not show signs of suicide risk. Nonetheless, we see how higher Burnout Risk has an association with higher hopelessness scores. Both Burnout and suicide are public health issues, so we are convinced that more similar studies are necessary.