The co‐developmental dynamic of sport and school burnout among student‐athletes: The role of achievement goals

Abstract

Student-athletes who strive for success in high-level sports while pursuing upper secondary education may be prone to sport and school burnout. This study examined the co-developmental dynamic of sport and school burnout in Finnish adolescent student-athletes (N = 391; N = 373) across the first year of upper secondary school using cross-lagged structural equation modeling (SEM). Furthermore, we used sport and school-related achievement goals as predictors of sport and school burnout, namely sport and school-related exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy. The results showed that burnout dimensions in a particular domain were substantially stable within the same domain during the first year of upper secondary school and that school-related exhaustion at the beginning of upper secondary school predicted sport-related exhaustion at the end of the school year. Mastery goals in sport and school were negatively associated with cynicism and feelings of inadequacy within the same domain. Furthermore, performance goals in school were positively associated with school-related cynicism. The results can be used by healthcare professionals for early prevention of student-athletes' burnout.

The role of resilience in student‐athletes' sport and school burnout and dropout: A longitudinal person‐oriented study

“…The participants completed a battery of questionnaires during class hours four times: at the beginning of their first year in upper secondary sport school (T1); six months later at the end of the first school year (T2); one year later at the end of the second school year (T3); and, finally, six months later in the beginning of the third school year (T4). The reason for selecting these measuring times was that the first year of upper secondary school is the transition year during which many developmental changes are likely to take place (eg, increased burnout due to increased demands of the transition) . Consequently, burnout was measured twice during the first school year.…”

“…At the same time as athletes often transit to adult sport, which may be one of the most challenging times in career, young athletes face the increasing demands of upper secondary school . Taken this into account, it is not surprising that some student‐athletes show sport and school burnout symptoms, such as emotional and physiological exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy, already in the beginning of upper secondary school and that the symptoms increase over time . One potential consequence of student‐athletes’ burnout is dropping out of sport (ie, quitting their athletic career) or school (ie, quitting their education).…”

“…The lives of student‐athletes on the domains of sport and school are highly intertwined and one domain is likely to affect the other. Indeed, it has been shown that student‐athletes’ exhaustion in school spills over to sport . Moreover, high success expectations in one domain have been shown to protect student‐athletes from burnout symptoms in the same domain, but be positively related to burnout symptoms in the other domain .…”

“…Indeed, it has been shown that based on the level and change of sport and school burnout symptoms there are different profiles of student‐athletes already in the beginning of upper secondary schools, and these profiles may become more overlapped during the first school year . However, it has been argued that since burnout is a condition that evolves over time, longer time frames and measuring points are needed to investigate the phenomenon …”

“…2 Taken this into account, it is not surprising that some student-athletes show sport and school burnout symptoms, such as emotional and physiological exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy, already in the beginning of upper secondary school 3 and that the symptoms increase over time. 4,5 One potential consequence of student-athletes' burnout is dropping out of sport (ie, quitting their athletic career) or school (ie, quitting their education). Although previous research has shown that burned out students are four times more likely to dropout from upper secondary school than non-burned out students, 6 the relationship between burnout and dropout has not yet been investigated among student-athletes.…”