Athlete Burnout

Question 1

What is the definition of Burnout?

Answer 1

-	“…a physical, emotional and social withdrawl from a formerly enjoyable sport activity. This withdrawl is characterised by:
o	 emotional and physical exhaustion
o	reduced sense of accomplishment 
o	sport devaluation…”
 (Gould and Whitley, 2009)

Question 2

What does it mean by personal accomplishments, emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, outside of sport?

Answer 2

Personal Accomplishments
- feelings of competence and successful achievement

Emotional exhaustion
- feelings of being emotionally over-extended and exhausted

depersonalisation
- unfeeling and impersonal

Question 3

What was Plog, Dorresteun & Keebler (2003) looking at in their study on healthcare profession?

Answer 3

types of stresses in the work place

Question 4

What was results of Plog, Dorresteun & Keebler (2003) study on healthcare profession?

Answer 4

• puts that reported high work overload, or high autonomy, insufficient financial rewards and poor relationships reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion, depolarisation and reduced sense of accomplishment.
• the higher the level of stresses the more likely they were to drop out of their profession.

Question 5

What was the aim, methods and results of Taylor et al. 1990 study on Referees?

Answer 5

• Aim: Longitudinal study – the level of stress at the beginning and 9 months later.
• Methods: Looked at symptoms of burnout at beginning and end
• Results: Those who were more stressed at the beginning were more likely to burn out.

Question 6

What was the aim, methods and results of Telly et al. 1999 study on tennis coaches?

Answer 6

Aim: relationship between the symptoms of burn out and hardiness

Methods:

• level of coaching issues – not enough time to dedicate to each individual athlete or not enough time to dedicate to their personal life.
• Also looked at gender, the competitive levels they were working at, their leadership style and their anxiety levels.

Results: Coaches who had higher levels of coaching issues, anxiety and stress reported higher levels of feelings of emotional exhaustion etc.

Question 7

What does it mean by personal accomplishments, emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, inside of sport?

Answer 7

Personal accomplishment: sporting abilities and their achievements

Emotional Exhaustion: over exhausted feeling due to training and competition level

Depersonalisation: negative attitude towards their participation

Question 8

Who conducted the study on the signs of athlete burnout in rugby players?, and what was their methods?

Answer 8

Cresswell and Eklund (2004)

• Professional rugby union players (n=199, age 19-23) completed ABQ and possible early signs of burnout inventory that psychologists were looking out for.
• results separated into 3 categories: physical and emotional exhaustion, low professional efficacy and sport devaluation.

Question 9

Draw Smith’s 1986 cognitive-effective model of burnout - stressed based model

Answer 9

see flashcards

Question 10

What does Smith’s 1986 cognitive-effective model of burnout show?

Answer 10

an analysis of situation demands and resources = where the athletes weighs up the demand’s of their support and the resources they have to deal with that.

Question 11

What does cognitive appraisal in Smith’s 1986 cognitive-effective model of burnout mean?

Answer 11

meaning and consequence of the participation in sport

Question 12

What does physiological responses in Smith’s 1986 cognitive-effective model of burnout mean?

Answer 12

increased arousal, increased anxiety, increased muscle tension and fatigue

Question 13

What does coping and task behaviours in Smith’s 1986 cognitive-effective model of burnout mean?

Answer 13

coping strategies they want to implement and their task behaviours

Question 14

What does burnout in Smith’s 1986 cognitive-effective model of burnout mean?

Answer 14

• demands of situation outweighed - not enough reward
• when they cognitively appraise the demands - feel overloaded
• causes anger, insomnia, anxiety, fatigue
• suboptimal pattern of behaviour to withdraw from sport

Question 15

Draw Silva’s 1990 model on negative training response model of burnout

Answer 15

see flashcard

Question 16

what does Silva’s 1990 model on negative training response model of burnout show?

Answer 16

An exhaustive psychophysiological response…characterised by ineffective efforts to meet excessive training and competitive demands”

• training stress can be beneficial but can cause overtraining and burnout to early.
• focuses mainly on psychological stress sport sport but not on psychological stressors which is a limitation

Question 17

Who is the sociological model theorised by?, and what does it state?

Answer 17

Coakleys 1992

stress underlies burnout

Question 18

What does the sociological model show?

Answer 18

• Agrees that stress is a symptom but social organisation of sport leads to burnout in young athletes.
• normal identity” is not developed due to structure of high level sport. Identity is associated with sporting success – stress, lack of success or injury = Burnout.
• young athlete’s lack control and decision making = Burnout.
• Told what to do by their coaches so don’t make their own decisions. Causes a lack of intrinsic motivation
  Young athletes’ social environments are organised in ways that they do not have the power to make their own decision about the direction of development

Question 19

Who theorised the sport commitment model?

Answer 19

Schmidt and Steins, 1991

Question 20

What is the focus of the Sport Commitment Model?

Answer 20

• Focuses on sport commitment and entrapment in sport – if they stop participating they basically have nothing so continue training. Overtime can lead to burnout.

Question 21

What should a coach/athlete do to prevent the athlete from burnout? (Sport Commitment Model)

Answer 21

• Coaches/parents should ensure that athletes a) enjoy participating b) feel supported but not pressurised c) are involved with decision making in training and competition.

Question 22

What makes an athlete feel like they should stay involved? (Sport Commitment Model)

Answer 22

• social pressure
• identity maintenance
• feel entrapped in sport and loose motivation to continue

Question 23

What does the SDT by Cresswell and Eklund 20005 state?, and what are the 3 needs?

Answer 23

• SDT contends that all individuals are motivated to satisfy three general needs:

1. Competence – relevant skill set to be successful
2. Autonomy – decision making, control over training
3. Relatedness – feelings, relevant social support.

Question 24

What happens if the 3 needs are not met?

Answer 24

athlete is more prone to burnout (more extrinsically motivated or amotivated)

Question 25

What are the methods and results of Redeye + Smith (2004) on the Stress Model?

Answer 25

Methods: 224 senior level age group swimmers completed a questionnaire assessing burnout, perceived stress, general coping behaviours and social support satisfaction.

Results: - Athletes that had higher levels of stress and reduced levels of coping and support had higher levels of symptoms of burnout.

Question 26

What are the aims and results of Kelly et al. 1999 on the Stress Model?

Answer 26

Aim: investigated the relationship between stress and burnout in 265 collegiate tennis coaches.

Results: higher levels of original stress and anxiety had a greater risk of burnout.

Question 27

What are the aims, and results of Cresswell + eklund (2005) on the SDT?

Answer 27

Aim: Examined relationships among burnout and motivational types differing in self-determination in professional rugby union players (n=199)

Results: athletes with higher levels of intrinsic motivation reported lower levels on the ABQ than those who were extrinsically motivated and amotivated.

Question 28

What are the aims, and results of Hodge et al. 2008 on the SDT?

Answer 28

Aim: Investigated the utility of SDT as a framework for understanding athlete burnout in elite rugby union player (n=133).

Results: If the three needs of the theory not met they had higher symptoms of burnout.

Question 29

What are the aims, and results of Perreault et al. 2007on the SDT?

Answer 29

aim: Assessed the relationship between the three components of the SDT and athlete burnout in high school students (n=259)

Results: Athletes that had higher levels of step 1 had lower levels of reduced accomplishment, exhaustion and devaluation.

Question 30

What are the other antecedents of burnout?

Answer 30

1. Achievement goals
   - If an athlete has high levels of ego-orientated goals they are more likely to withdraw from sport.
2. Coach behaviours
   –Autonomy/controlling styles – do they allow their athletes to have input?
   –Their own burnout! – if the coach also has high levels of anxiety and stress you may want to introduce a double intervention
3. Anything associated with coping and anxiety
   –Social support
   –Hardiness etc.

Question 31

What are the the ways to treat and prevent burnout?

Answer 31

¥ Monitor critical states in athletes e.g. stress levels – h
¥ Communicate
¥ Set short-term goals for training and competition
¥ Learn self-regulation skills
¥ Keep a positive outlook
¥ Manage post-competition emotions

Question 32

What is the opposite of burnout?, and what does it state?

Answer 32

“is an enduring, relatively stable sport experience, which refers to generalized positive affect and cognitions about one’s sport as a whole”

• feel competence and are dedicated to sport

Question 33

What was the aims, methods and results of Hodge et al 2009 study on athlete engagement?

Answer 33

Aim: investigated the relationship between basic needs (from the SDT) and athlete engagement in canadian athletes (n=201).

Methods: used sport motivation questionnaire and athlete engagement questionnaire and basic needs questionnaire.

rating on scale dedication and confidence in sport participation.