Burnout among Junior Athletes

Author(s): Frode Moen

This article looks at whether lower levels of perceived satisfaction with own progress academically in school and in sport, were associated with higher levels of Athlete Burnout among junior athletes attending different high schools specialized for sports In order to explore this, we investigated junior athletes’ perceptions of their own feeling regarding the different dimensions of Athlete Burnout, and how these perceptions related to their own satisfaction with their progress academically in school and in sport during the last year. The Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) measures three dimensions of Athlete Burnout, Accomplishments, Exhaustion and Devaluation. Our hypothesis was partly confirmed as the results revealed that lower levels of perceived satisfaction with progress academically in school were associated with higher Athlete Burnout. This result applies for the dimensions Exhaustion and Devaluation as well as the sum of Athlete Burnout. The athletes who reported to be very dissatisfied with their progress academically reported that they frequently felt exhausted and devaluated their sports. However, only the dimension Accomplishments was associated with Athlete Burnout when satisfaction with own progress in school was analysed.

Athlete Burnout, junior athletes, sport schools

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