Athlete burnout and mental and physical health outcomes: A three-wave longitudinal study

Abstract for related study (prior to peer review): Burnout is an increasingly prevalent mental health problem in athletes that may also increase the risk for further adverse mental and physical health consequences. However, longitudinal research in this area is scarce. The studies that do exist have yet to test possible reciprocal effects while accounting for the multilevel structure of longitudinal data. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to examine longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between athlete burnout and possible health consequences using, for the first time in sport psychology research, a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model to disaggregate between- and within-person effects. Based on existing literature, we chose to focus on physical symptoms, illness, depressive symptoms, sleep disruptions, and life satisfaction as the health variables of interest. Following a pre-registered protocol with open data, materials, and code, we recruited a sample of 267 competitive athletes who completed measures at three timepoints over six months. At the between-person level, we found athlete burnout to be associated with all examined health consequences. At the within-person level, emotional and physical exhaustion was found to predict increases in depressive symptoms. Sleep disruptions were found to predict increases in devaluation. Life satisfaction was found to predict decreases in total burnout, exhaustion, and reduced sense of accomplishment. The findings provide the strongest evidence to date that athlete burnout increases the risk for further health consequences such as depressive symptoms. Furthermore, reciprocal findings suggest that sleep and satisfaction-based interventions (e.g., sleep hygiene training and positive psychology interventions) may be able to protect against burnout development.

Abstract for the associated study (prior to peer review): Burnout is an increasingly prevalent mental health problem in athletes that may also increase the risk for further adverse mental and physical health consequences. However, longitudinal research in this area is scarce. The studies that do exist have yet to test possible reciprocal effects while accounting for the multilevel structure of longitudinal data. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to examine longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between athlete burnout and possible health consequences using, for the first time in sport psychology research, a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model to disaggregate between- and within-person effects. Based on existing literature, we chose to focus on physical symptoms, illness, depressive symptoms, sleep disruptions, and life satisfaction as the health variables of interest. Following a pre-registered protocol with open data, materials, and code, we recruited a sample of 267 competitive athletes who completed measures at three timepoints over six months. At the between-person level, we found athlete burnout to be associated with all examined health consequences. At the within-person level, emotional and physical exhaustion was found to predict increases in depressive symptoms. Sleep disruptions were found to predict increases in devaluation. Life satisfaction was found to predict decreases in total burnout, exhaustion, and reduced sense of accomplishment. The findings provide the strongest evidence to date that athlete burnout increases the risk for further health consequences such as depressive symptoms. Furthermore, reciprocal findings suggest that sleep and satisfaction-based interventions (e.g., sleep hygiene training and positive psychology interventions) may be able to protect against burnout development.

Abstract for related study (prior to peer review): Burnout is an increasingly prevalent mental health problem in athletes that may also increase the risk for further adverse mental and physical health consequences. However, longitudinal research in this area is scarce. The studies that do exist have yet to test possible reciprocal effects while accounting for the multilevel structure of longitudinal data. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to examine longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between athlete burnout and possible health consequences using, for the first time in sport psychology research, a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model to disaggregate between- and within-person effects. Based on existing literature, we chose to focus on physical symptoms, illness, depressive symptoms, sleep disruptions, and life satisfaction as the health variables of interest. Following a pre-registered protocol with open data, materials, and code, we recruited a sample of 267 competitive athletes who completed measures at three timepoints over six months. At the between-person level, we found athlete burnout to be associated with all examined health consequences. At the within-person level, emotional and physical exhaustion was found to predict increases in depressive symptoms. Sleep disruptions were found to predict increases in devaluation. Life satisfaction was found to predict decreases in total burnout, exhaustion, and reduced sense of accomplishment. The findings provide the strongest evidence to date that athlete burnout increases the risk for further health consequences such as depressive symptoms. Furthermore, reciprocal findings suggest that sleep and satisfaction-based interventions (e.g., sleep hygiene training and positive psychology interventions) may be able to protect against burnout development.