Coach and Athlete Burnout - West Virginia University

Coach and Athlete Burnout: The Role of Coaches’ Decision-Making Style 

Brandonn S. Harris, B.S. 

Thesis submitted to 

the School of Physical Education 

at West Virginia University 

in partial fulfillment of the requirements 

for the degree of 

Master of Science 

in 

Sport and Exercise Psychology 

Andrew C. Ostrow, Ph.D., Chair 

Jack C. Watson, II, Ph.D. 

Roy H. Tunick, Ed.D. 

Department of Sport and Exercise Psychology 

Morgantown, WV 

2005 

Keywords: Coach and Athlete Burnout, Decision-Making, Leadership

ABSTRACT 

Coach and Athlete Burnout: The Role of Coaches’ Decision-Making Style 

Brandonn S. Harris 

Recent burnout research has examined coaches and athletes collectively to determine the 

influence of coach behaviors on coach and athlete burnout. Results revealed a potential 

incongruity between decision-making behaviors and their influence on coach and athlete 

burnout. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between 

decision-making styles of coaches and burnout among coaches and athletes; gender 

influence on burnout was also examined. Collegiate swimmers and coaches completed 

questionnaires assessing burnout and decision-making behaviors. Results revealed a 

significant relationship between athlete burnout and autocratic coaching behaviors. A 

significant inverse relationship emerged between athlete burnout and democratic 

behaviors. ANOVAs revealed no significant interactions between gender and decisionmaking 

on burnout scores. Significant main effects were found for democratic behaviors 

on exhaustion and depersonalization subscales; swimmers classified as perceiving fewer 

democratic behaviors scored higher on these subscales. No significant relationships or 

gender differences were found with in the coaches.

DEDICATION 

This entire work is dedicated to my Mom, Dad, Lindsey, and Meghan, whose continuous 

love and support has been my impetus in completing this project and my graduate 

education. I love you all very much. 

-Brandonn 

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

A project of this magnitude involves the work and guidance of others in order to be 

successful. There are several people who played a significant role with this thesis, 

without whom this endeavor would not have been possible. 

I would like to thank my chair and advisor Dr. Andrew Ostrow for his guidance and 

wisdom throughout this entire process. The time and effort you have given over the past 

two years with this research has allowed me the opportunity to take an interest and idea 

and turn it into a terrific learning experience. I am very grateful for the knowledge you 

have imparted upon me and for the support you gave me, particularly when things were 

not going as planned. 

I would also like to thank Dr. Jack Watson for serving on my committee and providing 

me with support and feedback with this project and life outside of the master’s thesis. I 

feel very fortunate to have you as a resource and future colleague. I cannot thank you 

enough for always making time for me when there is someone else in line waiting for 

your guidance. You have set a positive example for us future professionals to follow. 

I am also grateful to Dr. Roy Tunick for his help, feedback, and support with my thesis. I 

am very appreciative to you for making the time to serve as one of my committee 

members and for the helpful comments and guidance you have provided me while 

completing this project. 

I would also like to thank the personnel at the World Swimming Championships and 

World Coaching Clinic for their willingness to allow me the opportunity to collect my 

data at their venues. I would also like to acknowledge those collegiate swimmers and 

swimming coaches who took the time to complete my inventories and for providing me 

with such a crucial component to a project of this nature. Without your help, none of this 

would have evolved to the point it is at today. 

I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues in the Sport and Exercise 

Psychology Program. It often takes the support and encouragement of folks who have 

been in your shoes before to help you endure the ups and downs that come with a thesis. 

In particular, I would like to thank Age for her constant support, kind words of 

encouragement, and wisdom over the past year. I would also like to thank Liz for sharing 

this experience with me. It has been a bumpy road for the both of us but we managed to 

pick each other up during the process. 

A very big thank you to Lindsey Blom and her family, the Grossmans, for providing me 

with a place to stay while on the road collecting my data. Not having to worry about 

housing accommodations made this project financially feasible for me to take on. I am 

very grateful for your hospitality and generosity. 

Finally, I would like to thank West Virginia University and the School of Physical 

Education for the funding they provided me to help finance this project. I appreciate the 

university and school’s financial support for graduate students taking on such endeavors. 

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . 1 

Theory and Research Regarding Leadership Style in Sport . . 2 

Research Regarding Decision-Making Style in Sport . . 4 

Research Regarding Decision-Making Style and Burnout . . 7 

Study Purposes, Hypotheses, and Significance . . . 9 

Methods . . . . . . . . . 11 

Participants . . . . . . . . 11 

Measures Completed by Athletes . . . . . 11 

Swimmer Demographic Information Form . . . 11 

Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) . . . 12 

Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS: Athlete Perception) . 14 

Measures Completed by Coaches . . . . . 17 

Swimming Coach Demographic Information Form . . 17 

Coach Burnout Questionnaire (CBQ) . . . 17 

Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS: Coach Perception) . 18 

Procedures . . . . . . . . 19 

Athletes . . . . . . . 19 

Coaches . . . . . . . 21 

Results . . . . . . . . . 23 

Collegiate Swimmers . . . . . . 25 

Preliminary Analyses . . . . . 25 

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Page

Relationship Between Decision-Making Style and Burnout . 26 

Influence of Gender and Autocratic Style on Burnout . 27 

Influence of Gender and Democratic Style on Burnout . 28 

Influence of Both Decision-Making Styles on Burnout . 29 

Predictive Value of Decision-Making Style on Burnout . 30 

Collegiate Swimming Coaches . . . . . 31 

Preliminary Analyses . . . . . . 31 

Relationship Between Decision-Making Style and Burnout . 32 

Influence of Gender and Decision-Making Style on Burnout 32 

Discussion . . . . . . . . . 33 

Influence of Decision-Making on Swimmer’s Burnout . . 34 

Influence of Decision-Making on Swimming Coaches’ Burnout . 38 

Implications and Future Directions . . . . . 43 

References . . . . . . . . . 47 

Tables . . . . . . . . . 52 

Figures . . . . . . . . . 54 

Appendices . . . . . . . . . 58 

Appendix A- Swimmer Demographic Information Form . . 58 

Appendix B- Athlete Burnout Questionnaire . . . 60 

Appendix C- Leadership Scale for Sports: Athlete Perception . 62 

Appendix D- Swimming Coach Demographic Information Form . 65 

Appendix E- Coach Burnout Questionnaire . . . . 67 

Appendix F- Leadership Scale for Sports: Coach Perception . 69 

vi

Appendix G- Cover Letter . . . . . . 72 

Appendix H- IRB Approval Letter . . . . . 74 

Appendix I- Review of Literature . . . . . 76 

Appendix J- Review of Literature References . . . 103 

vii

LIST OF TABLES 

Table 1- Internal Consistency and Descriptive Statistics for Intercollegiate 52 

Swimmers and Coaches 

Table 2- Pearson Product Correlation Coefficients for Burnout and Decision- 53 

Making Style Among Collegiate Swimmers and Collegiate 

Swimming Coaches 

viii 

Page

LIST OF FIGURES 

Figure 1. The Multidimensional Model of Leadership . . . 54 

Figure 2. The Cognitive-Affective Model of Burnout . . . 55 

Figure 3. The Negative Training Stress Syndrome . . . . 56 

Figure 4. The Stress Response Process . . . . . 57 

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Page

INTRODUCTION 

Burnout has become a topic of increasing interest to the sport community. 

Burnout 1 

Originally explored in individuals in the helping professions, burnout is not a novel topic 

in the study of human behavior. However, the concept has only begun to be examined in 

a sport context with most of the research initiated a decade and a half ago. In fact, some 

have even suggested that burnout has become synonymous with sports (Lai & Wiggins, 

2003). When asked what feelings they associate with being burned out, athletes and 

coaches often cite internal and external sources of pressure, physical and mental 

exhaustion, mood changes, increased anxiety, and lack of caring (Weinberg & Gould, 

1999). As both athletes and coaches experiencing burnout can mentally and physically 

withdraw from a sport they once used to enjoy, it is apparent that a great deal of 

significance rests in the understanding of burnout. 

Various theories and definitions of burnout have played an instrumental role in 

guiding research toward an understanding of the construct and variables believed to 

influence burnout. Relevant models have taken a cognitive-affective approach (Smith, 

1986), a negative response to training stress (Silva, 1990), the result of sport commitment 

or entrapment (Raedeke, 1997; Schmidt & Stein, 1991), or have taken a social 

phenomenon approach (Coakley, 1992). With these and other works (e.g. Feigley, 1984) 

having focused on athlete burnout, burnout among coaches has also been explored 

(Kelley, 1994; Vealey, Udry, Zimmerman, & Soliday, 1992). 

Although the coach and athlete populations have received research attention 

individually, recent studies have examined both groups collectively to determine the 

influence of coaching behaviors on coach and athlete burnout (Price & Weiss, 2000;


Udry, Gould, Bridges, & Tuffey, 1997; Vealey, Armstron, Comar, & Greenleaf, 1998). 

Relevant behaviors would include type and amount of feedback, social support, amount 

and type of training/instruction, and decision-making styles. This area of study seems to 

have continuing promise for future research on burnout. This may be particularly true 

should studies take aspects of coaching leadership behaviors into consideration when 

examining athlete and coach burnout as relatively little attention has been given to this 

area thus far. Although not frequently attending to its effect on burnout, the sport 

leadership research has focused on coach and athlete leadership preferences and 

satisfaction as a result of varying coach behaviors. Various frameworks have often 

served as guides in conducting such research. To understand its potential influence on 

both coach and athlete burnout, it is helpful to first examine the nature and types of coach 

leadership behaviors and how they can impact the interactions between these two groups 

of individuals. 

Theoretical Framework and Research Regarding Leadership Style in Sport 

Several models have emerged as major approaches in examining leadership in 

sport (Chelladurai & Riemer, 1998). Proposed have been a mediational model (Smoll & 

Smith, 1989; Smoll, Smith, Curtis, & Hunt, 1978), a normative model of decision styles 

(Chelladurai & Haggerty, 1978), and a multidimensional leadership model (Chelladurai, 

1980, Chelladurai, 1990; Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980). While the mediational and 

normative models have made important contributions to the sport leadership literature, 

the multidimensional model will be described in further detail as it lends itself nicely for 

the purposes of the present research.

The multidimensional theory of leadership synthesized previous non-sport 


leadership models (e.g. path-goal theory, House & Dressler, 1974) and extended them to 

a sport context (Chelladurai & Riemer, 1998). The model proposes that athlete 

satisfaction and group performance are a function of the combined effects of required, 

preferred, and actual leader behavior (see Figure 1). Three antecedents affect the leader 

behavior. These include situational, leader, and member characteristics. Required leader 

behaviors are those necessitated by both situational and member characteristics. These 

would include the parameters of the organization, its environment, governmental 

regulations, age, and gender, for example (Chelladurai, 1990; Chelladurai & Riemer, 

1998). Preferred leader behavior is determined by member characteristics and the 

situational variables. Actual leader behavior is a function of characteristics of the leader, 

required behavior, preferred leader behavior, and group performance and satisfaction. 

Leader characteristics would include their personality, ability, and experiences 

(Chelladurai & Riemer, 1998). Using this model of leadership as a guide, Chelladurai 

and Saleh (1978, 1980) developed the Leadership Scale for Sports, a 40-item, five-factor 

scale assessing specific coach leadership behaviors. 

The LSS measures athletes’ perceptions of coach behavior, athletes’ preferences 

of coach behavior, and coaches’ perceptions of their own behavior (Chelladurai, 1990). 

Dimensions of behavior that are included assess the degree to which coaches include 

training and instruction, social support, positive feedback, and autocratic and democratic 

decision-making behaviors in their coaching. An autocratic decision-making style refers 

to one in which the coach has the final word regarding team decisions. A coach with a 

democratic style tends to include the team in the decision-making process. (Chelladurai


& Doherty, 1998). These latter two dimensions are of particular interest for the current 

study as one style of decision-making may predispose athletes to experience burnout 

while the other has been found to predispose coaches towards burnout (e.g. Dale & 

Weinberg, 1989; Price & Weiss, 2000; Vealey et al., 1998). As stated previously, 

research investigating the influence of leadership behaviors on coach and athlete burnout 

has been somewhat scarce, particularly as it relates to the moderating effects of coaches’ 

decision-making behaviors. However, related research has focused on coach and athlete 

leadership preferences and satisfaction as a result of varying coach behaviors. 

Using the multidimensional model and dimensions of the LSS as a guide, several 

studies have examined athlete and coach preferences of various leadership behaviors. 

For example, Chelladurai and Saleh (1978) found that athletes in team sports preferred 

greater coaching behaviors emphasizing training than those in individual sports. Further, 

males were found to prefer social support more than females. Chelladurai and Carron 

(1983) also studied these two coaching behaviors. Their investigation assessed if 

preferences for social support and training and instruction varied as a function of athletic 

maturity. Their results indicated that training and instruction preferences decreased 

throughout high school but increased at the university level. Preferences for social 

support increased from early high school to the university level of athletics. 

Research Regarding Decision-Making Style in Sport 

Athlete preferences of decision-making styles have also been addressed in the 

leadership literature. In this line of research, several styles of decision-making have been 

identified. For example, although not developed in a sport context, Vroom and Yetton 

(1973) presented a continuum of styles ranging from autocratic to group, where


autocratic involved no participation of group members and group involved significant 

input from the members. Two types of autocratic behaviors were proposed. The “truest” 

form involved the leader making decisions him or herself based on the information 

available at that moment. The second autocratic style had the leader collect information 

from members and then make the decision on his or her own. Two types of consultative 

behaviors were also included. With the first type leaders consulted members individually 

and then made a decision on their own, sometimes based on the members’ feedback and 

other times not. The second form involved leaders talking with members as a group and 

still making their decision on their own. Finally, a group style of decision making had 

leaders consulting with members and jointly making a decision. 

Chelladurai and Haggerty (1978) offered three styles of sport-specific decision- 

making. Autocratic behaviors where those in which the final decisions were made by the 

coach. However, their concept of autocratic behaviors included those decisions that may 

have been made by consulting with some or all of the members in order to obtain 

information. A participative style referred to those behaviors where the decision is made 

by the group along with the coach. Both parties are considered to be of equal status. 

Finally, a delegative style denoted that behavior where the coach allows one or more 

members of the team to make the decision and is not involved in the choice him or 

herself. 

Chelladurai and Saleh’s (1980) Leadership Scale for Sports proposes a dichotomy 

of decision-making styles. Democratic decision-making referred to the degree in which 

coaches permit participation of athletes in making choices. The coach tends to solicit 

opinions and approval from athletes before moving forward. Further, the team sets its


own goals and works at its own pace. Autocratic behaviors denoted a style characterized 

by a coach who isolates him or herself when decisions are to be made and stresses his or 

her authority in dealing with the team. These coaches usually expect compliance with the 

decisions they make. 

Research regarding these two particular types of decision-making behaviors 

suggests that men may prefer coaches with more of an autocratic decision-making style 

while females may prefer a democratic style (Chelladurai, & Saleh, 1978). Studies have 

also shown that autocratic decision-making styles may become the style of choice for 

male athletes as they progress within a sport season, and throughout several seasons from 

high school to college (Chelladurai & Carron, 1983; Turman, 2003). Interestingly, while 

Chelladurai, Haggerty, and Baxter (1989) found athletes in general preferred more of an 

autocratic style of decision-making in their coaches, they failed to demonstrate any 

gender differences. 

It has been indicated that discrepancies between athletes’ perceived leader 

behavior and preferred behavior can contribute to dissatisfaction with the 

abovementioned components of coaches’ leadership behavior (Chelladurai, 1984). While 

this may be true, burnout may also be a factor to consider as a result of this discrepancy 

in both coaches and athletes. In noting that athletes cite severe practice conditions as the 

most important reason for their own burnout, Vealey et al. (1998) suggested the 

behaviors of the coaches who conduct the training sessions may be at the root of this 

problem. Although this premise guided their own research on athlete burnout, relatively 

little attention has been given to the effect coaches’ leadership behaviors, particularly 

decision-making styles, have on both athlete and coach burnout.

Research Regarding Decision-Making Style and Burnout 


One relevant study to this line of research conducted was done so several years 

ago by Dale and Weinberg (1989). These authors studied leadership style and burnout in 

coaches and found those who utilized a consideration style evidenced greater emotional 

exhaustion and depersonalization, two common indicators of burnout. It was noted that a 

consideration style of leadership is democratic in nature and focused on interpersonal 

relationships. The authors noted that coaches with this style of leadership may become 

more emotionally involved with their teams and give more to them than themselves. Price 

and Weiss (2000) found similar results in their research. Their study demonstrated that 

coaches reporting greater levels of burnout were perceived by their athletes to utilize 

democratic decision-making behaviors regarding their sport. In contrast to these two 

studies, Kelley, Eklund, and Ritter-Taylor (1999) found a democratic style of leadership 

to be associated with lower levels of burnout among coaches, a result described as 

“striking” (p. 128) as the opposite result was expected in accordance with Dale and 

Weinberg’s (1989) research. Certainly future research should address this discrepancy to 

determine the exact nature of this relationship. 

This line of burnout and leadership behavior research has also yielded some 

disconcerting results, mainly the potential incongruity between decision-making styles 

and burnout among athletes and coaches that becomes apparent when examining the 

athlete burnout and leadership research. Vealey et al. (1998) examined the influence of 

perceived coaching behaviors on athlete burnout. Results indicated that athletes who 

scored higher on a burnout inventory also perceived their coach’s leadership style to be 

more autocratic in nature. Other research has demonstrated similar trends. Price and


Weiss (2000) found athletes reported higher levels of burnout in response to perceived 

coaching behaviors that were autocratic in nature. A democratic style was associated 

with less burnout in these athletes. 

The results of the abovementioned research has left the burnout and leadership 

arena with two significant issues that warrant future attention. First, the relationship of 

decision-making style and burnout among coaches has yet to be clearly identified. As 

mentioned above, research has yielded inconsistent findings. An additional issue of 

concern regards the incongruity between athlete and coach burnout and coaches’ 

decision-making behaviors. The research has suggested the decision-making style that 

has been linked to coach burnout (democratic or consideration) is one that may keep 

athletes from experiencing burnout. Further, the decision-making style linked to athlete 

burnout (autocratic) may be one that protects coaches from experiencing burnout. Future 

research is clearly needed to further examine this issue to clarify this relationship and 

reduce the likelihood of either group experiencing burnout. 

Despite the related research’s contributions to the literature, methodological 

improvements in assessment can be made to enhance the validity of such research. For 

example, Dale and Weinberg’s (1989) study did not utilize a sport-specific leadership 

questionnaire to assess coaches’ leadership behaviors. Further, although Vealey et al’s. 

(1998) study included an assessment of the coach’s use of autocratic behaviors according 

to athletes, they did not assess athletes’ perception of a coach’s use of democratic 

behavior. Additionally, these researchers did not include a sport-specific measure to 

assess coach burnout. Their sample of coaches included in the research was also limited 

and unable to assume a normal distribution of scores (n=12). Price and Weiss’ (2000)


study did not include a sport-specific instrument to assess coach burnout. Like that of 

Vealey et al. (1998), their sample size of coaches was also limited (n=15). Future 

research that attempts to identify the relationship between the perception of decision- 

making behaviors utilized by coaches and athlete and coach burnout should consider 

employing the use of sport-specific measures to assess burnout and leadership behaviors 

as well al utilizing an adequate sample size of each population. 

Study Purposes, Hypotheses, and Significance 

The present research examined the relationship between perceived coaches’ 

decision-making style and athletes’ and coaches’ burnout levels in the competitive sport 

of collegiate swimming. Secondary purposes included assessing gender differences 

within the coach and athlete populations, as well as the interaction between decision- 

making style and gender on burnout dimensions. Swimmers are a likely sample to 

experience burnout due to the high intensity and increasing training conditions of 

practices. Further, the rigorous training that swimmers endure during both the 

competitive and off-season make the sport’s athletes and coaches more susceptible to 

experiencing burnout and therefore a good population to sample from. Athletes 

responding negatively to this type of training stress may be likely to experience burnout 

(Silva, 1990). 

It is hypothesized that as athletes perceive their coach’s decision-making style to 

be more autocratic in nature their own reported levels of burnout will increase. This 

would be indicated by higher scores on the physical/emotional exhaustion sport 

devaluation, and reduced personal accomplishment subscales on a burnout inventory. 

Further, as athletes perceive their coach’s decision-making style to be democratic their


own reported levels of burnout will decrease. This would be indicated by lower scores on 

the physical/emotional exhaustion, sport devaluation, and reduced sense of 

accomplishment subscales on a burnout inventory. Second, it is hypothesized that as 

coaches report more of autocratic style for decision-making their reported levels of 

burnout will decrease. This would be indicated in the same manner as described with the 

athletes using the modified version of a burnout questionnaire to fit a coaching context. 

Further, as coaches report more of a democratic decision-making style their reported 

levels of burnout will increase. This would indicated by the manner as described with 

athletes’ scores. 

Directional hypotheses for gender differences are difficult to offer due to the lack 

of literature on gender and burnout with athletes, and the inconsistent literature available 

regarding gender and burnout in coaches. However, because previous literature has 

suggested that male athletes may prefer more autocratic decision-making behaviors than 

female athletes, interaction hypotheses between gender and decision-making style are 

easier to formulate. It is expected that male athletes who perceive more autocratic 

behaviors will be less burnt out (denoted by their scores on the three subscales of the 

burnout inventory) than their female counterparts. The same relationship is expected in 

the coaching population. It is also hypothesized that coaches who are high in autocratic 

behaviors and low in democratic behaviors will report less burnout than those coaches 

who are higher in democratic behaviors and lower in autocratic behaviors. Athletes who 

perceive their coaches to be higher in autocratic behaviors and lower in democratic 

behaviors will report more burnout than those athletes who report a perception of higher 

democratic and lower autocratic behaviors.

Participants 

METHODS 


Athlete participants included male (n=38) and female (n=53) collegiate swimmers 

(N=91). Seventy-six collegiate swimmers competed in NCAA Division I (n=49) and 

Division II (n=27) programs. An additional 15 international competitive collegiate 

swimmers outside of NCAA governance also participated in the study. Athletes’ ages 

ranged from 19 to 25 years with a mean age of 19.98 years and a standard deviation of 

2.38 years. The average number of years athletes reported swimming competitively was 

11.43 with a standard deviation of 3.23 years. Athletes also reported spending an average 

of 20.93 hours per week on swimming-related obligations (SD=4.74). 

The coaching sample included thirty-six collegiate swimming coaches who were 

affiliated with NCAA Division I (n=13), Division II (n=8), and Division III (n=9) 

swimming programs. Five coaches did not report their division status and one 

international collegiate swimming coach was employed outside of the United States and 

exempt of NCAA governance. Twenty-three of the coaches were male and 8 were 

female. Gender was not reported by 5 participants. The mean age of coach participants 

was 39.64 years with ages ranging from 23 to 58 years and a standard deviation of 9.94 

years. The average number of years coaches reported coaching competitive swimming 

was 18.75 with a standard deviation of 9.77 years. Coaches also reported spending an 

average of 50.28 hours per week on coaching-related duties (SD=16.82). 

Measures Completed by Athletes 

Swimmer Demographic Information Form. All collegiate swimmers completed a 

demographic information form (see Appendix A) that assessed personal characteristics,

number of years swimming competitively, number of hours spent per week on 


swimming-related duties, and variables pertaining to their academic level and level of 

competition. 

Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ). To assess burnout in athletes the Athlete 

Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2001) was used (see Appendix B). This 

multidimensional inventory contains 15 items that assess three subscales of sport burnout. 

Subscales include a reduced sense of accomplishment, emotional and physical 

exhaustion, and sport devaluation. Participants respond to the degree each item applies to 

him or her using an ordinal scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 denoting “almost never” and 

5 denoting “almost always.” The 1 st and 14 th items are reversed scored. Although a 

fairly new means of assessing sport-specific burnout in athletes, this inventory went 

through several stages of development to establish its psychometric properties before 

reaching its current state. 

The first stage involved examining the psychometric properties of a preliminary 

burnout scale used in Raedeke’s (1997) previous related research. This inventory was 

administered to swimmers from USA Swimming and consisted of 21 items that measured 

each of the three dimensions on a 5-point ordinal scale. The results of a factor analysis 

verified a three-factor structure and indicated that each of the dimensions measured was 

internally consistent with Cronbach’s alpha levels above .70. The total variance 

accounted for in the factor analytic model was 60%. Further, the reduced sense of 

accomplishment scale split into two separate factors, distinguished by the negatively or 

positively worded items.


The second stage (Raedeke & Smith, 2001) of inventory construction attempted to 

further assess the psychometric properties of a revised version of the burnout 

questionnaire. In addition, the authors attempted to establish convergent validity by 

examining correlation coefficients with related burnout constructs, such as motivation, 

stress, and coping. The authors also attempted to reduce the number of items assessing 

each dimension to five and to better fit the swimming context. Five additional face-valid, 

trial items were also included in case some of the core items failed to load significantly 

on their respective subscale. Again, swimmers from USA Swimming served as 

participants. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the revised items loaded with 

significance to the appropriate subscale and the Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension was 

above .80 and was deemed a good fit for the data. Two items were replaced with trial 

items due to a cross-loading with the other dimensions which strengthened the 

psychometric properties of the subscales. There were no indications of the reduced sense 

of accomplishment scale splitting in two factors as in the first stage. Construct validity 

was demonstrated as burnout scores showed a positive and moderate relationship with 

stress and amotivation measures. Further, low to moderate negative relationships were 

found between burnout scores and social support, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation 

measures (Raedeke & Smith, 2001). 

The third stage (Raedeke & Smith, 2001) involved assessing the generalizability 

of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire to other sport settings and giving further attention 

to its psychometric properties. Participants were collegiate athletes in basketball, cross- 

country, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The term “swimming” 

was replaced with “sport,” and “swim” with “perform” on the 15-item questionnaire.


Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that items again loaded significantly and were 

found to be a good fit with the data. One item was replaced with a trial item and was 

shown to be a better fit. Construct validity was established through correlations between 

burnout scores and related constructs. Correlation coefficients between burnout scores 

and motivation were similar to that of the second stage. Positive, low to moderate 

relationships were found between burnout scores and competitive trait anxiety. 

Enjoyment and commitment coefficients were negatively related to burnout scores and 

were high or moderate in degree. The questionnaire was re-administered seven to nine 

days following the first assessment in this stage. Test-retest reliability was demonstrated 

for emotional/physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport 

devaluation with coefficients of .92, .86, and .92, respectively. Through demonstrated 

reliability and validity, the authors deemed the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire to be a 

psychometrically sound instrument and available for use in a variety of competitive sport 

situations. 

Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS: Athlete Perception). To assess athletes’ 

perceived decision-making style of their coaches, Chelladurai and Saleh’s (1978, 1980) 

Leadership Scale for Sports was utilized (see Appendix C). The LSS is a 40-item 

inventory that assesses several dimensions of coaches’ leadership behaviors. These 

include social support, training and instruction, positive feedback, autocratic behavior, 

and democratic behavior. The latter two dimensions are of interest to the present study 

due the potential incongruity they have regarding coach and athlete burnout. Research 

has suggested that coaches utilizing a democratic decision-making style may be more 

likely to experience burnout. However, a democratic style of decision-making may keep


athletes from burnout out. An autocratic decision-making style may keep coaches from 

burning out but may enhance the likelihood athletes experiencing burnout (Dale & 

Weinberg, 1989; Price & Weiss, 2001). There are three versions of the LSS. One form 

examines athletes’ preferences of coach leadership behavior. Another assesses athletes’ 

perception of their coach’s leadership behaviors. The last assesses the coach’s perception 

of their own leadership behaviors. The latter two forms were used in the present study. 

In completing the leadership perception inventory athletes are asked to respond by 

indicating how often their coach exhibits particular leadership behaviors. Their answers 

for each question are anchored from 1 to 5, with 1 denoting “always” and 5 denoting 

“never.” 

In its first stage of development (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1978), the LSS contained a 

pool of 99 items modified or created from already existing leadership scales. One 

hundred sixty male and female physical education students completed the inventory, the 

results of which were factor analyzed. This analysis yielded a similar five-factor model 

that the current LSS contains (training behavior, social support, rewarding behaviors, 

autocratic behaviors, democratic behaviors). Items that were retained from this first stage 

were those that had a loading of at least .40 for their respective subscale, but did not load 

above .30 for any other scale. Thirty-seven items met these criteria and were therefore 

retained for further inventory development. 

The second stage of development (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980) included the 

addition of 13 new items. Because no items of the training subscale examined teaching 

behaviors of coaches, seven items were added to this subscale in order to assess 

instructing behaviors. In addition, six more items on the social support subscale were


also included. Further, before administering this revised, 50-item scale to participants the 

authors quantified the intermediate response categories. Behaviors classified as 

occurring “often,” “occasionally,” and “seldom” were assigned frequencies of 75%, 50%, 

and 25%, respectively. This was done to clarify the frequencies of the classifications for 

participants. Physical education students completed a form assessing their preferences of 

coach behaviors. Varsity athletes were also assessed on their preferences and perceived 

coach behaviors. Following the completion of this inventory, factor analyses were again 

conducted on all three sets of data. In order for an item to be retained from this second 

evaluation it needed to have its highest loading on the same factor of each of the three 

data sets. In addition, its loading was required to be at least .30 in two of the three data 

sets. Using these criteria, 40 items were retained. Thirteen items were kept for the 

training and instruction subscale, 8 items for the social support subscale, 5 items for the 

positive feedback scale, 5 items for the autocratic behavior subscale, and 9 items for the 

democratic behavior subscale. The authors note that coefficients of determination for the 

physical education students’ preferences, athletes’ preferences, and athletes’ perceptions 

were 41%, 39%, and 56%, respectively. 

Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated for each of the five subscales in all 

three data sets (physical education students’ preferences, athletes’ preferences, and 

athletes’ perceptions). All coefficients were above .70 except the autocratic scores for 

the physical education students (.66) and the athletes’ preferences (.45). To establish 

test-retest reliability of the LSS the Chelladurai and Saleh (1980) administered the form 

to the physical education students with an interval of four weeks between testings. Test- 

retest reliability coefficients ranged from .71 to .82 and were deemed adequate.


To further demonstrate factorial validity the authors compared the factor structure 

from the versions of the scale administered to athletes with that of the physical education 

students. The factor structure from the first stage of scale development (Chelladurai & 

Saleh, 1978) was also used in comparison. Results revealed that the structure was similar 

across the three data sets as well as in comparison to that of the first stage. From this 

finding authors concluded the factor structure replicable and stable. Further, from their 

two-staged analyses for scale development, the authors suggested the final version of the 

LSS could be used successfully to examine coaching behaviors. 

Measures Completed by Coaches 

Swimming Coach Demographic Information Form. All collegiate swimming 

coaches completed a demographic information form (see Appendix D) that assessed 

personal characteristics, number of years coaching swimming competitively, number of 

hours spent per week on swimming-related duties, and variables pertaining to their 

academic level and level of competition. 

Coach Burnout Questionnaire (CBQ). Because there is no known sport-specific 

coaching burnout measure available to date, a modified version of the Athlete Burnout 

Questionnaire was developed to assess burnout levels in coaches (see Appendix E). To 

develop the coach version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire the researcher modified 

each of the 15 items in the original questionnaire to reflect coaching rather than playing 

their respective sport. For example, “I’m accomplishing many worthwhile things in 

swimming” was changed to “I’m accomplishing many worthwhile things in coaching 

swimming.” Once each of the items was modified accordingly, the coach version of the 

inventory was submitted to an expert panel of four members who were former


competitive swimmers in addition to teaching swimming courses. Each member was 

asked to review the original and modified version of the questionnaire and determine if 

each item appeared to fit under its respective subscale. In addition, members were asked 

to determine if each modified item retained its original meaning and clarity as compared 

to the original item. Panel members responded to these three questions for each item of 

the questionnaire using a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 denoting that they 

strongly disagree and 5 denoting strong agreement. The question regarding the retention 

of meaning of new items was reversed scored. No items were found by the panel to be 

inappropriately modified. Two minor changes in wording were made based on consensus 

of the panel. Based on their suggestions, this final modified version appeared to have 

content validity and served as the coach version of the burnout questionnaire. 

Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS: Coach Perception). The coach perception 

version of the Leadership Scale for Sports was used to assess coaches’ perception of their 

own decision-making behaviors (see Appendix F). The inventory was created with the 

athlete perception and athlete preference versions using the same procedure previously 

described for the collegiate swimmer sample. However, in their analysis of the 

measures’ psychometric properties, Chelladurai and Saleh (1978, 1980) excluded the 

coach version of the LSS. Other research, however, has demonstrated adequate 

psychometric properties of this version of the LSS. Turman (2003) utilized all three 

versions in research with coaches and athletes. Internal consistencies for the coach 

perception version were above .70 for all five subscales, with Cronbach’s alpha scores of 

.72 and .79 for the autocratic and democratic subscales, respectively. However, because 

previous research has found the autocratic subscale to have questionable internal


consistency (Dwyer & Fischer, 1988) this component of the LSS was of concern to the 

present research. To combat the potentially inadequate reliability of this subscale, 

improvements to its internal consistency were attempted based on previous research by 

Price and Weiss (2000). These authors added three additional items to the autocratic 

subscale in an attempt to improve its internal consistency. Their items included “makes 

decision regardless of what athletes think,” “does not take into account athletes’ 

suggestions when making decisions,” and “controls what athletes can and cannot do.” 

These additions resulted in adequate reliability for this subscale. Therefore, these same 

additions were used for the present study after having obtained permission from Price and 

Weiss. 

Procedures 

Athletes. Two rounds of data collection were used to obtain the sample of 

collegiate swimmers used in data analyses. The first site used for data collection was a 

major international swimming competition held in the Midwest. A proposal explaining 

the study’s purposes and procedures was prepared and forwarded to the event’s executive 

director for review and permission to survey collegiate swimmers participating and/or 

volunteering at the championships. Upon being granted permission, the site where data 

collection would occur was discussed and finalized. It was decided that a table would be 

set up in the vicinity adjacent to the registration area where all swimmers either 

competing in or volunteering for the event would pass through to receive their 

credentials. The researcher used the table to store study inventories in addition to 

displaying the prizes used for a raffle for those who completed the questionnaires. A


large sign was also displayed on the table to get competitors’ and volunteers’ attention as 

they passed through the registration area and recruit them for participation. 

When potential participants arrived to receive their credentials, the researcher 

approached them to assess if they were collegiate swimmers and if so, whether or not 

they would be interested in participating in the research. All individuals approached were 

explained the purposes and procedures of the study. Those willing to participate were 

given an envelope containing a cover letter explaining the nature of the study (see 

Appendix G), a demographic information sheet, the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire, and 

the athlete perception version of the Leadership Scale for Sports. Each packet was 

counterbalanced so that order of inventory completion would not influence the results of 

the research. All participants were told to keep the cover letter that contained 

information on how to contact the researcher if there were questions or concerns. 

Participants were also instructed to complete the inventories, place them the envelope, 

and seal it when finished. Once envelopes were returned to the researcher, each 

participant selected a piece of paper from a basket and told to open it. If the paper 

contained a star, he or she won one of the prizes on the display table. Each individual 

was thanked for their participation following the raffle. 

To increase the sample size of collegiate swimmers, a second round of athlete 

data collection was conducted and involved the assessment of collegiate swimmers in the 

southeast region of the United States. The researcher contacted the head coach of 

swimming programs in this region via phone and/or e-mail to discuss the purposes and 

procedures of the study. A time was set up with those teams willing to participate in the 

research when the investigator would visit teams before or after practice to administer the


study’s inventories. At each meeting, the researcher explained the nature of the study as 

was done with the data collected at the championships. Those collegiate swimmers 

willing to participate were given an envelope containing the questionnaires and asked to 

place the inventories back in the envelope once finished. When returning the sealed 

enveloped to the researcher, each individual was thanked for their participation in the 

study. Between both rounds of data collection, 22 “elite” athletes who were competing in 

the Championships were sampled. 69 collegiate swimmers not participating in the event 

were also sampled. 

Coaches. Two rounds of data collection were also conducted to obtain the 

swimming coach data used in analyses. The first round occurred at a world swimming 

coach’s clinic held in the Midwest. A proposal explaining the study’s purposes and 

procedures was prepared and forwarded to the sponsoring association’s executive director 

for review and permission to survey collegiate swimming coaches attending the clinic. 

Upon being granted permission, the site where data collection would occur was discussed 

and finalized. Similar to the championships, it was decided that a table would be set up 

in the vicinity adjacent to the registration area where all swimming coaches attending the 

event would pass through to receive their name tags and conference materials. The 

researcher used the table to store study inventories in addition to displaying the prizes 

used for a raffle for those coaches who completed the questionnaires. A large sign was 

also displayed on the table to get collegiate coaches’ attention as they passed through the 

registration area and recruit them for participation. This was particularly useful as 

coaches from other levels of competition (i.e. club, high school) were attending the 

conference as well.

When potential participants arrived to receive their materials, the researcher 


approached them to assess if they were collegiate swimming coaches and if so, whether 

they would be interested in participating in the research. All individuals approached were 

explained the purposes and procedures of the study. Those willing to participate were 

given an envelope containing a cover letter explaining the nature of the study, a 

demographic information sheet, the Coach Burnout Questionnaire, and the coach 

perception version of the Leadership Scale for Sports. Each packet was counterbalanced 

so that order of inventory completion would not influence the results of the research. All 

participants were told to keep the cover letter that contained information on how to 

contact the researcher if there were questions or concerns. Participants were also 

instructed to complete the inventories, place them the envelope, and seal it when finished. 

Once envelopes were returned to the researcher, each participant selected a piece of paper 

from a basket and told to open it. If the paper contained a star, he or she won one of the 

prizes on the display table. Each individual was thanked for their participation following 

the raffle. 25 coaches were sampled during this first round of data collection. 

Previous research has evaluated the psychometric equivalency of Internet-based 

research and found that data collection on the web is a valid, reliable, and cost-effective 

method of acquiring data similar to that obtained when using traditional paper and pencil 

methods (Metzger, Kristof, & Yoest, 2003; Meyerson & Tryon, 2003; Miller, Neal, 

Roberts, Baer, Cressler, Metick, et al., 2002). Therefore, to increase the sample size of 

swimming coaches, additional data were obtained by placing coach inventories on the 

Internet under the domain of the university the researcher was affiliated with. Contact 

was made by the researcher with the executive director of a national collegiate coach’s


swimming association. After explaining the nature of the study, permission was granted 

to e-mail a link to the website containing the inventories to the members of this 

association. Each member received an e-mail explaining the purpose and procedures of 

the study in addition to a request for their participation. Those who were willing to 

complete the inventories clicked on a linked that took them to a webpage containing a 

cover letter that provided additional information regarding the study and the contact 

information of the researcher. A link was provided on the bottom of the cover letter that 

took participants to the webpage containing the internet version of the demographic form, 

the Coach Burnout Questionnaire, and the coach perception of the Leadership Scale for 

Sports. Once coaches completed the forms online, they were instructed to click “submit” 

at the bottom of the webpage. This transmitted the anonymous data through an e-mail to 

the researcher. Clicking “submit” also took participants to a final webpage thanking 

them for their participation in the research. The results of this second round of data 

collection yielded an additional 11 swimming coach participants. 

RESULTS 

The results of the study are organized in two sections. The first section addresses 

those analyses conducted with the data obtained from the collegiate swimmers sample. 

Preliminary analyses were run on the inventories completed by the athletes (i.e. the 

Athlete Burnout Questionnaire and Leadership Scale for Sports) to provided descriptive 

statistics in addition to assessing the scales’ internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha 

coefficients. In addition, independent sample t-tests were used to assess any differences 

in burnout and perception of decision-making style between the “elite” collegiate 

swimmers competing in the World Swimming Championships and those swimmers not


competing in the Championships in order to determine if these groups could be combined 

for the purposes of the subsequent data analyses. To examine the relationship between 

athletes’ reported levels of burnout and their perception of their coach’s decision-making 

style, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were computed. Two-way 

analyses of variance (ANOVA) were also conducted to evaluate the interactions between 

perceptions of decision-making style and gender on swimmers’ reported levels of 

burnout. ANOVAs were also used to examine the interaction of both decision-making 

styles on burnout in collegiate swimmers. Finally, stepwise multiple regression analyses 

were used to determine the predictive value of assessing athletes’ perception of coaches’ 

decision-making style on these collegiate swimmers’ reported burnout levels. 

The second section reports those analyses conducted on the data acquired from 

collegiate swimming coaches. Preliminary analyses were also run on the data provided 

by this sample that included descriptive statistics in addition to computing Cronbach’s 

alpha coefficients to determine the internal consistency of inventory subscales. In 

addition, independent sample t-tests were used to assess any differences in burnout and 

perception of decision-making style between the coaches surveyed via paper and pencil 

inventories at the World Clinic and those coaches surveyed over the Internet to determine 

if these two methodologies produced similar results. Pearson product-moment 

correlation coefficients were utilized to examine the relationship between coaches’ 

perception of their decision-making behaviors and their reported levels of burnout. 

Independent sample t-tests were used to determine the differences in burnout among male 

versus female coaches in addition to differences on burnout between those coaches

classified as being high or low in terms of their autocratic and democratic decision- 

making behaviors. 

Preliminary Analyses for Collegiate Swimmers 


To assess the reliability of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire and Leadership 

Scale for Sports: Athlete Perception subscales, internal consistencies were calculated 

using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (See Table 1). All alpha coefficients were above .70. 

Notable is that the reliability for the autocratic subscale of the LSS was also adequate 

with an alpha coefficient of .80. This is encouraging considering literature has previously 

noted the potential problems associated with the internal consistency of this subscale 

(Dwyer & Fischer, 1988). 

Descriptive data (e.g. means and standard deviations) for swimmers’ perceptions 

of coaches’ decision-making style for those subscales of the LSS in addition to their 

reported levels of burnout of each subscale of the ABQ can also be found in Table 1. The 

means for athletes’ perception of their coach’s decision-making style are comparable to 

those reported by Chelladurai (personal communication, March 1, 2004). An analysis of 

those studies using the athlete perception version of the Leadership Scale for Sports 

yielded an average democratic score of 3.05 (SD= .71) and an average mean for the 

autocratic scores of 2.64 (SD=.72). Because the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire was 

published recently (2001), norms were not yet available for comparison with the present 

study’s results. 

To examine any potential differences in the data obtained from those “elite” 

collegiate swimmers competing in the World Swimming Championships and those 

swimmers who did not compete in the event, independent sample t-tests were utilized.


The only significant difference between the two groups of collegiate swimmers was on 

the democratic subscale of the Leadership Scale for Sports (t (89) = -2.5, p


swimmers perceive their coaches to use more of an autocratic style in making decision, 

their own levels of burnout increase correspondingly. Further, as collegiate swimmers 

perceive their coaches to utilize a democratic approach to decision-making, their own 

levels of burnout decrease. However, while statistically significant, the obtained 

correlation coefficients between athletes’ perceptions of the decision-making style of 

their coaches and their levels of burnout were low. 

Gender, Autocratic Decision-Making Style, and Burnout Among Swimmers 

To assess any interactions between collegiate swimmers’ gender and a perceived 

coaches’ autocratic decision-making style on their burnout levels, three, two-way (gender 

x high/low autocratic) ANOVAs were utilized. Each burnout subscale (e.g. exhaustion, 

sport devaluation, reduced sense of accomplishment) served as a dependent variable for 

each two-way ANOVA conducted. MANOVAs were not employed due to the 

insufficient cell sizes and statistical power necessary to carry out this statistical 

procedure. Collegiate swimmers’ scores on the perceived autocratic decision-making 

behavior subscale of the LSS were recoded into either high or low autocratic perception 

categories. A median split was used to determine if scores were categorized as high or 

low. Those scores above the median were classified as high autocratic perception and 

those below classified as low autocratic perception. 

The results of the ANOVAs revealed no statistically significant interactions 

between gender and high/low autocratic perceptions of collegiate swimmers on any of the 

three subscales of burnout. Further examination revealed no significant main effects for 

gender or high/low autocratic perception on any of the three burnout subscales. Although 

not statistically significant, trends in the data revealed that collegiate swimmers


perceiving their coach to be more autocratic in their decision-making reported higher 

levels of burnout on the sport devaluation and reduced sense of accomplishment 

subscales compared to those athletes perceiving their coach as being less autocratic in 

their decision-making. 

Gender, Democratic Decision-Making Style, and Burnout Among Swimmers 

Three two-way (gender x high/low democratic) ANOVAs were also computed to 

examine any interactions between collegiate swimmers’ gender and a perceived coaches’ 

democratic decision-making style on these athletes’ own levels of burnout. Again, each 

burnout subscale (e.g. exhaustion, sport devaluation, reduced sense of accomplishment) 

was used as a dependent variable for each ANOVA conducted. Swimmers’ scores on the 

perceived democratic decision-making behavior subscale of the LSS were recoded as 

being either a high or low democratic perception. Similar to the autocratic scale, a 

median split was used to determine if scores were categorized as high or low. Those 

scores above the median were classified as high democratic perception and those below 

categorized as a low democratic perception of coaches’ decision-making style. 

The results of the ANOVAs revealed no significant interactions between gender 

and high/low democratic perceptions of collegiate swimmers on any of the three burnout 

subscales. No significant main effects were found for gender on any of the burnout 

subscales. However, statistically significant main effects did emerge for high/low 

democratic decision-making behaviors as a result of the analyses. A significant main 

effect was found for high/low perceptions of democratic behaviors with regards to the 

exhaustion burnout subscale (F (1, 87) = 6.13, p


reported significantly less emotional and physical exhaustion than those reporting their 

coaches to be less democratic. A significant main effect was also found for high/low 

perceptions of democratic behaviors regarding the sport devaluation burnout subscale 

(F (1, 87) = 7.23, p

Does Perception of Decision-Making Style Predict Burnout Among Swimmers? 


Because it was hypothesized that collegiate swimmers’ perception of their coach’s 

decision-making style would influence their own reported levels of burnout, it was 

logical to ascertain the predictability of decision-making style on swimmers’ burnout. To 

examine this, three stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted. Each burnout 

subscale served as the criterion variable in each analysis. To determine what, if any, 

additional demographic predictor variables should be included in the analyses (besides 

autocratic and democratic decision-making styles), in addition to testing for 

multicolinearity, a Pearson product-moment correlation matrix was utilized. The results 

revealed no significant relationships between athletes’ demographic information (e.g. 

number of years swimming competitively, number of hours per week spent on 

swimming-related duties) and any of the three burnout subscales. Therefore, no 

additional demographic variables were included in the regression analyses. Further, 

neither of the predictor variables (autocratic decision-making style, democratic decision- 

making style) were found to be highly correlated with one another. Therefore, 

multicolinearity was not of concern. 

The only statistically significant predictor of the emotional and physical 

exhaustion component of burnout was the perception of a democratic decision-making 

style (F (1, 89) =7.39, p

depersonalization (F (2, 89) =8.49, p

Dwyer and Fischer (1988) whose sample of wrestling coaches yielded a comparable 

pattern. 

To examine any differences between coaches surveyed via paper and pencil 


questionnaires at the World Coach Clinic and those coaches completing inventories over 

the Internet, independent samples t-tests were utilized. The results revealed no 

significant mean score differences between the two groups on any of the burnout 

subscales or the decision-making subscales of the Leadership Scale for Sports. This 

suggests that both groups responded to the questionnaires similarly. 

Relationship Between Perceived Decision-Making Style and Burnout Among Coaches 

To examine the relationship between collegiate swimmers coaches’ perceived 

decision-making style and their own reported levels of burnout, Pearson product-moment 

correlations were computed (see Table 2). The results revealed no statistically significant 

relationships between the perception of either possessing an autocratic or democratic 

decision-making style and coaches’ scores on any of the three burnout subscales (e.g. 

exhaustion, sport devaluation, reduced sense of accomplishment. Further, trends in these 

analyses did not suggest that a particular relationship between decision-making style and 

burnout in coaches might exist. 

Gender, Decision-Making Style, and Burnout Among Coaches 

To assess any differences in collegiate swimming coaches’ gender on their 

burnout levels, three independent t-tests were utilized. Two-way ANOVAs were not 

employed to examine gender and decision-making style influences on burnout due to 

insufficient cell sizes and statistical power necessary to conduct such analyses. Each 

burnout subscale (e.g. exhaustion, sport devaluation, reduced sense of accomplishment)


served as a dependent variable for each t-test conducted. No significant differences were 

found between males and females on any of the burnout subscales. 

To examine differences in burnout between coaches categorized as using high 

versus low levels of democratic or autocratic decision-making behaviors, six additional 

independent t-tests were utilized. Three t-test analyses were computed for each decision- 

making style, one for each of the three burnout subscales serving as the dependent 

variable. Collegiate swimming coaches’ scores on their perceived autocratic and 

democratic decision-making behavior subscales of the LSS were recoded into either high 

or low perceptions. A median split was used to determine if scores were categorized as 

high or low. Those scores above the median were classified as a high perception and 

those below classified as a low perception. No significant differences were found on any 

of the three burnout subscales between those coaches classified as using a high or low 

degree of democratic or autocratic decision-making behaviors. This finding is consistent 

with the absence of relationships found between coaches’ perceptions of their decision- 

making style and their reported burnout. 

DISCUSSION 

The primary purpose of the present research was to investigate the influence that 

coaching behaviors can have on burnout in coaches and athletes. In particular, the 

relationship between perception of coaches’ decision-making style and burnout among 

collegiate swimmers and swimming coaches was examined. Previous research has 

suggested that coaches utilizing a democratic decision-making style may be more likely 

to experience burnout. Conversely, a democratic style of decision-making may help 

protect athletes from burning out. Further, an autocratic decision-making style may keep


coaches from burning out but may enhance the likelihood athletes experience burnout 

(Dale & Weinberg, 1989; Price & Weiss, 2001; Vealey et al., 1998). This potential 

incongruity served as the focal point of the present research. It should be noted, however, 

that because many of the athletes and coaches surveyed were not from the same 

swimming programs, between-group inferences could not be made. Further, this design 

did not provide the opportunity to account for any team interactions between coaches and 

athletes that may explain the perception of decision-making behaviors. 

The Influence of Decision-Making Style on Collegiate Swimmers’ Burnout 

As hypothesized for the athlete sample, collegiate swimmers’ levels of burnout on 

all three subscales (e.g. exhaustion, sport devaluation, reduced sense of accomplishment) 

were significantly related to their perception of coaches’ use of autocratic and democratic 

decision-making styles. As swimmers perceived their coach to utilize more of an 

autocratic decision-making style, swimmers’ reported levels of burnout on all three 

subscales increased. Further, as collegiate swimmers perceived their coach to utilize 

more of a democratic decision-making style, swimmers’ reported levels of burnout on all 

three subscales decreased. However, although statistically significant, readers should be 

cautioned as the strength of the correlation coefficients was small. Squaring these values 

reveals that decision-making style only accounted for between four to eleven percent of 

the variance in the burnout subscales. This suggests that there are other constructs that 

may be accounting for more of the variance in burnout scores that was not assessed with 

the present research. 

The relationships between swimmers’ perceived decision-making style of their 

coach and swimmers’ reported level of burnout were further confirmed by the results of


the two-way ANOVAs and multiple regression analyses performed on the swimmers’ 

data. Significant main effects were found for swimmers’ perception of a high versus low 

degree of democratic decision-making behaviors and their scores on the exhaustion and 

sport devaluation burnout subscales. This suggests that collegiate swimmers perceiving 

their coaches to be more democratic in their decision-making reported significantly less 

burnout on these subscales than those swimmers’ perceiving their coaches to use fewer 

democratic decision-making behaviors. In addition, perception of decision-making style 

was found to significantly predict all three subscales of burnout among collegiate 

swimmers. For the exhaustion and reduced sense of accomplishment subscales, the 

perception of a democratic decision-making style emerged as a significant predictor of 

athlete burnout. Perceptions of a democratic and autocratic decision-making style were 

found to significantly predict the sport devaluation component of athlete burnout. 

Collectively, these results suggest that collegiate swimmers’ perception of their coach’s 

decision-making style, particularly a democratic style of decision-making, has some 

influence on swimmers’ reported levels of burnout. When interpreting these results it 

should be noted that the effect sizes generated by the ANOVA analyses were small in 

nature. Further, the coefficientss of determination for each of the significant regression 

models were small, suggesting that the predictive value of decision-making style only 

accounted for between seven and sixteen percent of the variance in burnout scores. 

It is of interest that swimmers’ perception of a democratic decision-making style 

emerged from the analyses as the more salient of the two types of decision-making styles. 

A likely explanation for this finding may rest in the type of sport used for the present 

research. Weinberg and Gould (1999) noted that athletes participating in interactive,

team sports may prefer more of an autocratic style of decision-making than athletes 


taking part in a coactive sport such as swimming. Although swimming can be considered 

a team sport, the nature of training and competition is such that members often participate 

individually. Partially due to the mere nature of their sport, swimmers’ responses to the 

inventories may have reflected the preference for a democratic style which would help 

explain why more democratic than autocratic behaviors were reported by both swimmers 

and swimming coaches. It might also explain why a democratic perception of decision- 

making style was more strongly and consistently linked to burnout in swimmers in the 

present study compared to an autocratic perception. 

The results of the swimmers’ data mirror those of previous research examining 

the influences of coach leadership on athlete burnout within a multidimensional model of 

leadership. Price and Weiss (2000) and Vealey et al. (1998) also found the perception of 

an autocratic decision-making style among athletes to be linked to greater athlete 

burnout. Price and Weiss further revealed in their study that athletes perceiving their 

coach to utilize more of a democratic style of leadership also reported feeling less burnt 

out. Because democratic coaches elicit feedback from their athletes regarding decisions 

about their team, these athletes may perceive to have more control over and meaning in 

their sport participation. These perceptions may help act as a buffer against the physical 

and psychological stressors that, over time, can eventually lead to burnout if untreated. 

On the other hand, autocratic coaches do not invite feedback from their athletes. This 

could contribute to a lack of perceived control and meaning among athletes regarding 

their sport involvement and could partially contribute to an extreme training environment 

that Vealey et al. (1998) noted athletes cite as the most significant cause of burnout. The

esults also support the findings of Udry and colleagues (1997), that suggested that 


athletes coping with burnout often view their sport interactions with important others 

(including coaches) as more negative than positive. The perception of an autocratic 

decision-making style of their coach could fit into collegiate swimmers’ negative 

perception of important others. 

The secondary purpose of the present research was to examine the collective and 

individual influence of gender and decision-making style on collegiate swimmers’ 

burnout, in addition to the interaction of both decision-making styles on swimmers’ 

burnout. Previous research has found that males may prefer more of an autocratic style 

of decision-making from their coaches compared to their female counterparts 

(Chelladurai, & Saleh, 1978; Chelladurai & Carron, 1983; Turman, 2003). For this 

reason, it was expected that male collegiate swimmers perceiving their coach to utilize 

more autocratic decisions would report less burnout than females. The results of the 

analyses did not support this hypothesis. Interestingly, collegiate swimmers did not 

significantly differ between genders on their level of burnout on any of the three 

subscales. Although males have been found to prefer an autocratic style of decision- 

making more than females, it may be that this preference does little to influence the 

degree of burnout that male athletes experience in comparison to females. 

The failure to reveal significant gender differences in burnout among athletes 

does, however, support previous research conducted by Lai and Wiggins (2003). In 

conducting their research, these authors utilized coach burnout research to formulate their 

hypotheses regarding gender differences. Because little research has examined gender 

differences in burnout among athletes, it is important that future studies do so in the


hopes that such hypotheses can be made using the results of athlete data rather than that 

of coaches. Although the present study did not reveal gender differences in burnout 

among collegiate swimmers, it did mimic those results of previous research and will 

provide future burnout studies with a basis from which to work from. 

It was also of interest that the two decision-making styles did not interact 

significantly to influence burnout among collegiate swimmers. This suggests that for the 

collegiate swimmers and swimming coaches surveyed, a particular combination of both 

decision-making styles did not influence the degree of burnout either group experienced. 

Prior to this study, research had not examined the potential interaction between these two 

leadership characteristics. 

The Influence of Decision-Making Style on Collegiate Swimming Coaches’ Burnout 

The purpose of this study was also to examine the relationship between coaches’ 

perception of their decision-making style and coaches’ reported levels of burnout. 

Previous research has suggested that the use of a democratic decision-making style might 

predispose coaches to experiencing burnout (Dale & Weinberg, 1989; Price & Weiss, 

2000; Vealey et al., 1998) while an autocratic decision-making style may help prevent 

them from experiencing burnout. Kelley et al. (1999) suggested this may be due to the 

additional stress that comes with being sensitive to their athletes’ opinions and 

preferences while still attending to their normal duties as the coach. 

Based on this previous research, it was hypothesized that as collegiate swimming 

coaches perceived themselves to utilize more of a democratic style of decision-making, 

their reported levels of burnout would increase. Further, as these coaches reported more 

of an autocratic style of decision-making, their levels of burnout would decrease. The


results of the analyses did not support this hypothesis; collegiate swimming coaches’ 

perception of their decision-making style was not found to be significantly related to any 

of the three burnout subscales. Subsequent analyses confirmed this finding, as coaches 

classified as being high in their use of autocratic or democratic decision-making 

behaviors did not significantly differ from one another on any of the three burnout 

subscales. There were no differences in burnout revealed between male and female 

coaches as well. Finally, perception of decision-making style did not significantly predict 

burnout in collegiate swimming coaches. 

Several propositions can be offered in understanding why no link was found 

between coaches’ perception of their decision-making style and their reported levels of 

burnout. The present study was one of the few to isolate a particular type of leadership 

behavior and examine its influence on both athlete and coach burnout (e.g. decision- 

making style). It is likely that the role of coaches’ decision-making style by itself is not 

of significant importance in understanding coach burnout. Rather, its impact on coach 

burnout may be more prominent when taken into consideration with other types of 

leadership (i.e. social support, feedback, training and instruction) or other variables (role 

ambiguity, role conflict, anxiety, etc.). Because burnout is now seen as more of a 

multidimensional construct, it seems logical that personal and situational variables will 

collectively contribute to burnout among coaches. 

The failure to reveal gender differences in the present study, although not 

supporting the secondary hypotheses, is not surprising as previous research has yielded 

equivocal findings (Davenport, 1998). Caccese and Mayerberg (1984) found that female 

coaches experienced significantly higher levels of burnout denoted by greater levels of

emotional exhaustion and lower levels of personal accomplishments than their male 


counterpart. No gender differences were found regarding the depersonalization subscale. 

Similar results have been mirrored by other studies regarding the emotional exhaustion 

subscale (Kelley, 1994; Kelley et al., 1999; Pastore & Judd, 1993; Vealey et al., 1992). 

However, Pastore and Judd (1993) and Vealey and colleagues (1992) failed to 

demonstrate any gender differences regarding the personal accomplishment subscale. 

Where these studies have found no gender differences in depersonalization, others have 

suggested males experience greater levels of depersonalization than females (Dale & 

Weinberg, 1989). It is not surprising that the present study failed to reveal gender 

differences on any of the three burnout subscales when one takes into consideration the 

inconsistent findings of the previous research. Future studies should continue to examine 

gender differences in coach burnout to better understand the impact the gender of the 

coach has on burnout. 

One also has to consider the sample size of collegiate swimming coaches obtained 

for the present study as a possible explanation for the results. Because a smaller sample 

of coaches was used for the analyses, a greater treatment effect would need to be present 

in order for significant differences or relationships to surface. However, the sample of 

coaches obtained was larger than those of previous studies examining the influence of 

leadership behaviors on coach and athlete burnout (e.g. Price & Weiss, 2000; Vealey et 

al., 1998). 

It is also possible that coaches responded to the questionnaires in a socially 

desirable manner in expressing their levels of burnout and style of decision-making. In 

fact, previous research has masked the true nature of burnout questionnaires to account


for the negative connotation associated with the construct of burnout (e.g. Gould, Udry, 

Tuffey, & Loehr, 1996). The lack of willingness among coaches to express their true 

levels of burnout and style of decision-making could have potentially contributed to the 

findings of the present study. 

The accuracy of the coaches’ responses to the study’s questionnaires, particularly 

the Leadership Scale for Sports, may also be worthy of consideration. Research has 

found that coaches’ perceptions of their own leadership behaviors are less accurate than 

those of the athletes they coach or those of an expert observing the actual leadership 

behaviors (Smoll & Smith, 1981). It is plausible that a portion of coaches sampled in the 

present study misrepresented their decision-making behaviors on the Leadership Scale for 

Sports, not in a socially desirable manner, but rather due to an inaccurate perception of 

those behaviors. These misperceptions could potentially have influenced the results of 

the analyses conducted on the swimming coaches’ data. 

The fact that two different methods of obtaining data from collegiate swimming 

coaches were used could also have influenced the results of the research. Many of the 

coach participants completed pencil and paper inventories in the presence of the 

researcher, while others completed the same surveys online. Due to the smaller sample 

size obtained, it was not possible to contrast coaches’ scores in addition to the 

psychometric properties of each method of data collection. However, previous research 

has found the two methods of obtaining to be similar to one another in terms of their 

validity and reliability (Metzger et al., 2003; Meyerson & Tryon, 2003; Miller et al., 

2002). Therefore, it seems unlikely that the two methods of data collection used to gather

data from collegiate swimming coaches was a major contributor to the results of the 

present study. 


Finally, one has to consider the reported levels of burnout by both athletes and 

coaches in the study to potentially have some degree of influence on the results. The 

sample of collegiate swimmers obtained was not experiencing a high degree of burnout. 

Further, because the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire is a newer instrument used in the 

assessment of sport burnout, norms are not available for comparison with data in the 

present study. However, with the range of possible scores on each of the three subscales 

stemming from one to five, some conclusions can be drawn. If one were to consider an 

average level of burnout to be the halfway point on each subscale (two and one-half), the 

collegiate swimmers in the present study could be considered to have reported relatively 

average levels of burnout. As shown in Table 1, their scores on the depersonalization and 

reduced sense of accomplishment subscales were slightly below the midpoint. These 

athletes also reported slightly higher levels of emotional and physical exhaustion as 

indicated by a mean score higher than the midpoint. It is possible that many of these 

swimmers, particularly those “elite” swimmers competing in the Championships, were 

surveyed immediately following a tapering period of their training in preparation for this 

significant competition. Because these athletes had not recently been exposed to the 

extreme training conditions that swimmers typically endure, their levels of burnout may 

have been slightly lower at the time of assessment. 

The collegiate swimming coaches did not evidence elevated degrees of burnout as 

well. Because the Coach Burnout Questionnaire was created for the present study, norms 

are not available for comparison with data in the present study. However, with the range

of possible scores on each of the three subscales stemming from one to five, some 


conclusions can be drawn. If one were to consider an average level of burnout to be the 

halfway point on each subscale (two and one-half), the collegiate swimming coaches in 

the present study could be considered to have reported relatively average levels of 

burnout. As shown in Table 1, their scores on the depersonalization and reduced sense of 

accomplishment subscales were slightly below the midpoint. These coaches also 

reported slightly higher levels of emotional and physical exhaustion as indicated by a 

mean score higher than the midpoint. This pattern of burnout mimics that of the 

collegiate swimmers sampled in the present study. 

Implications and Future Directions 

As previously mentioned, research has suggested that athletes cite severe training 

conditions as their most significant reason for experiencing burnout (Vealey et al., 1998). 

Certainly the extreme physical conditions that are often a part of elite competitive sport 

weigh heavily on this matter. However, the fact that number of hours per week spent on 

swimming-related duties did not relate to or predict burnout among athletes partially 

suggests that it is not simply the frequency of intense physical practices that causes 

burnout. It is also important to examine the behaviors, particularly decision-making 

style, of those coaches who are conducting the practice sessions. These actions may, in 

part, determine if coaches and/or their athletes will be more susceptible to experiencing 

burnout. Because athletes experiencing higher degrees of burnout often report coach 

decision-making behaviors to be autocratic, and coaches experiencing higher levels of 

burnout report more of a democratic decision-style, an incongruity may be present. As 

this stands, coaches would have to make a choice: implement a decision-making style

that predisposes their athletes to experiencing burnout or a style that predisposes 

themselves. 


To date, this potential incongruity had yet to be addressed. The present research 

attempted to further examine this relationship. The results revealed that collegiate 

swimmers’ perception of their coaches’ leadership behaviors, in particular decision- 

making style, had some degree of influence on burnout levels reported by those 

swimmers. Thus, it is recommended that coaches take into consideration the degree to 

which they elicit feedback from their athletes regarding team-related decisions that need 

to be made. By inquiring about feedback or opinions from athletes, coaches could help 

create a feeling of control and meaningfulness among athletes that act as a buffer against 

experiencing burnout. This idea is further strengthened by the fact that results did not 

show collegiate swimming coaches’ decision-making style was related to or predicted 

coach burnout. If such is the case, coaches who utilize a democratic style of decision- 

making with their team can help prevent burnout among their players without 

jeopardizing their own likelihood of experiencing burnout. 

Future burnout research should continue to examine the relationship between 

coaches’ leadership variables and their impact on both coach and athlete burnout. The 

results of research that has examined this area are not unequivocal. Further, the limited 

amount of research attention given thus far has yet to come to a consensus regarding the 

true relationship between the perception of coaches’ decision-making style and burnout 

among coaches and athletes. The same holds true for research examining gender 

differences in burnout among coaches and athletes.

A major effort of subsequent research should also be to identify and recruit 


coaches and athletes who are experiencing a high degree of burnout as study participants. 

Although difficult to accomplish as many of these individuals may have dropped out of 

sport, assessing coaches and athletes who are experiencing a high degree of burnout may 

provide the strongest evidence regarding the potential incongruity between perception of 

decision-making style and burnout among coaches and athletes. 

A beneficial approach to examining burnout in the future would be to continue to 

incorporate qualitative research methods in burnout investigations as has been done in the 

past (e.g. Gould, Tuffey, Udry, & Loehr, 1996). This would be particularly useful with a 

coach population as little qualitative burnout research has been done with this group to 

date. Using qualitative methods of data collection with a sample of athletes and coaches 

who are experiencing a high degree of burnout could provide professionals with rich and 

valuable information about the nature of burnout and mediating leadership variables that 

influence its occurrence in both coaches and athletes. 

Additional research attention should also be given to the assessment of burnout 

within the sport domain. Because the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire was developed 

recently, norms for the subscales and additional validation of the instrument have yet to 

be provided. The present research provided additional support for the internal 

consistency of this measure, although future research should continue to validate its 

psychometric properties across various sport types and establish norms for each of its 

subscales to compare future research against. The present research also provided 

preliminary support for a measure to assess sport burnout in coaches. To date, no sport 

burnout measure is available for the coach population. The internal consistencies found


with the Coach Burnout Questionnaire were high and a promising indication that such a 

measure could be developed and validated in the near future.

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Table 1 

Internal consistency and descriptive statistics for intercollegiate swimmers (N=91) and 

coaches (N=36) 

ATHLETES 

ABQ 

Cronbach α M SD 

Exhaustion .91 3.06 .890 

Sport Devaluation .80 2.15 .803 

Reduced Sense of Accomplishment .79 2.15 .702 

LSS 

COACHES 

Perceived Autocratic Behaviors .80 2.76 .744 

Perceived Democratic Behaviors .81 3.30 .711 

CBQ 

Exhaustion .94 2.73 .984 

Sport Devaluation .88 2.03 .836 

Reduced Sense of Accomplishment .81 2.07 .671 

LSS 

Perceived Autocratic Behaviors .61 2.62 .470 

Perceived Democratic Behaviors .76 3.12 .492


Table 2 

Pearson product correlation coefficients for burnout and decision-making style among 

collegiate swimmers (N=91) and collegiate swimming coaches (N=36) 

ATHLETES 

COACHES 

*p


Antecedents Leader Behavior Consequences 

Situational 

Characteristics 

Leader 


Member 


Required 

Behavior 

Actual 

Behavior 

Preferred 

Behavior 

Performance 

Satisfaction 

Figure 1. The multidimensional model of leadership (from Chelladurai, 1980, 1990).

Personality and Motivational Factors 


Situation Cognitive appraisal Physiologic responses Coping and 

Demands/ -of demands -e.g., arousal task behaviors 

Resources -of resources 

Stress -of consequences 

-of “meaning” of 

consequences 

-High or conflicting -Perceived overload -Tension, anger, -Inappropriate 

demands: overload -Low perceived anxiety, depression behavior 

-Low social support predictability and -Insomnia, fatigue -Decreased 

Burnout -Low autonomy control: helplessness -Illness susceptibility performance 

-Low rewards -Perception of few -Interpersonal 

-Low demands: meaningful difficulties 

boredom accomplishments -Withdrawal 

-Lack of meaning and from activity 

devaluation of self/activity 

Figure 2. The cognitive-affective model of burnout (from Smith, 1986).

Impose 

Training 

Stress 

Maintain or Increase 

Training Stimulus 

Negative 

Reaction/Response 

(Psychophysiological) 

Staleness 

Overtraining 

Figure 3. The negative training stress syndrome (from Silva, 1990). 

Training Plateau or 

Detraining Effect 

Burnout Withdrawal 

Burnout 56

Stressors 

Environmental Physical Social General Life Secondary 

Appraisal Perception 

Challenge Threat Relaxation Boredom 

Coping/Defense Responses 

Physiological Emotional Behavioral Cognitive 

State of Adaptation 

Physiological Emotional Cognitive Behavioral/Social 

Figure 4. The stress response process (from Tennebaum et al., 2003). 


Personal Dispositions 

& States 

Self-Efficacy 

Social Support 

Goal Setting 

Arousal/Anxiety/Emotions 

Attributional Style 

Attachment

APPENDIX A 

Swimmer Demographic Information Sheet 



Swimmer Demographic Information Sheet 

Please respond to the following questions to the best of your ability. Do not write your 

name or other identifying information on this form. Your answers will remain 

anonymous. 

*Age:__________ (years) 

*Gender: Male Female (circle one) 

*What is your nationality? ___________________ 

*What is your primary language? _____________________ 

*Number of years swimming competitively: _____________ 

*Average number of hours per week spent swimming or 

completing swimming-related obligations?________________ 

*Age group of competition currently competing in (circle all that apply): 

Pre-high school High school Collegiate 

Post-Collegiate/Professional Other: ________________ 

*What year in school are you currently in (circle one): 

Freshman Sophomore Junior 

Senior Not Applicable Other:___________ 

*If participating at the collegiate level, what division do you compete at? 

Division I Division II Division III Not Applicable

APPENDIX B 

Athlete Burnout Questionnaire 



Please read each statement carefully and decide if you ever feel this way about your current sport 

participation. Your current sport participation includes all the training you have completed during 

this season. Please indicate how often you have had this feeling or thought this season by circling 

a number 1 to 5, where 1 means "I almost never feel this way" and 5 means "I feel that way most 

of the time." There are no right or wrong answers, so please answer each question as honestly as 

you can. Please make sure you answer all items. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. 

Almost Rarely Some- Fre- Almost 

never times quently always 

1. I’m accomplishing many worthwhile 1 2 3 4 5 

things in swimming. 

2. I feel so tired from my training that I have 1 2 3 4 5 

trouble finding energy to do other things. 

3. The effort I spend in swimming would be 1 2 3 4 5 

better spent doing other things. 

4. I feel overly tired from my swimming 1 2 3 4 5 

participation. 

5. I am not achieving much in swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

6. I don’t care as much about my swimming 1 2 3 4 5 

performance as much as I used to. 

7. I am not performing up to my ability in 1 2 3 4 5 

swimming. 

8. I feel “wiped out” from swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

9. I’m not into swimming like I used to be. 1 2 3 4 5 

10. I feel physically worn out from swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

11. I feel less concerned about being successful 1 2 3 4 5 

in swimming than I used to. 

12. I am exhausted by the mental and physical 1 2 3 4 5 

demands of swimming. 

13. It seems that no matter what I do, 1 2 3 4 5 

I don’t perform as well as I should. 

14. I feel successful at swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

15. I have negative feelings towards swimming. 1 2 3 4 5

APPENDIX C 

Leadership Scale for Sports: Athlete Perception 



Each of the following statements describe a specific behaviour that a coach may exhibit. For each statement there are five alternatives: 

1. ALWAYS; 2. OFTEN (about 75% of the time); 3. OCCASIONALLY (50% of the time); 

4. SELDOM (about 25% of the time); 5. NEVER 

Please indicate your coach's actual behavior by placing an "X" in the appropriate space. Answer all items even if you are unsure 

of any. Please note that you are rating your present coach. 

My coach: 

1 2 3 4 5 

1. Sees to it that athletes work to capacity. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 1 

2. Asks for the opinion of the athletes on strategies for specific competitions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 2 

3. Helps athletes with their personal problems. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 3 

4. Compliments an athlete for good performance in front of others. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 

5. Explains to each athlete the techniques and tactics of the sport. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 5 

6. Plans relatively independent of the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 6 

7. Helps members of the group settle their conflicts. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 7 

8. Pays special attention to correcting athletes' mistakes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 8 

9. Gets group approval on important matters before going ahead. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 9 

10. Tells an athlete when the athlete does a particularly good job. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 10 

11. Makes sure that the coach's function in the team is understood by all athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 11 

12. Does not explain his/her actions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 12 

13. Looks out for the personal welfare of the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 13 

14. Instructs every athlete individually in the skills of the sport. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 14 

15. Lets the athletes share in decision making. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 15 

16. Sees that an athlete is rewarded for a good performance. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 16 

17. Figures ahead on what should be done. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 17 

18. Encourages athletes to make suggestions for ways to conduct practices. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 18 

19. Does personal favours for the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 19 

20. Explains to every athlete what should be done and what should not be done. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 20 

21. Lets the athletes set their own goals. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 21 

22. Expresses any affection felt for the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 22 

23. Expects every athlete to carry out one's assignment to the last detail. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 23 

24. Lets the athletes try their own way even if they make mistakes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 24 

25. Encourages the athlete to confide in the coach. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 25 

26. Points out each athlete's strengths and weaknesses. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 26 

27. Refuses to compromise on a point. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 27 

28. Expresses appreciation when an athlete performs well. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 28 

29. Gives specific instructions to each athlete on what should be done in 

every situation. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 29

My coach: 


1 2 3 4 5 

30. Asks for the opinion of the athletes on important coaching matters. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 30 

31. Encourages close and informal relations with athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 31 

32. Sees to it that the athletes' efforts are coordinated. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 32 

33. Lets the athletes work at their own speed. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 33 

34. Keeps aloof from the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 34 

35. Explains how each athlete's contribution fits into the total picture. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 35 

36. Invites the athletes home. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 36 

37. Gives credit when it is due. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 37 

38. Specifies in detail what is expected of athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 38 

39. Lets the athletes decide on plays to be used in a game. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 39 

40. Speaks in a manner which discourages questions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 40 

41. Makes decisions regardless of what athletes think. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 41 

42. Does not take into account athletes’ suggestions when making decisions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 42 

43. Controls what athletes can and cannot do. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 43

APPENDIX D 

Swimming Coach Demographic Information Form 


Swimming Coach Demographic Information Form 


Please respond to the following questions to the best of your ability. Do not write your 

name or other identifying information on this form. Your answers will remain 

anonymous. 

*Age: __________ (years) 

*Gender (circle one): Male Female 

*Are you a head coach or an assistant coach (circle one)? Head Assistant 

*What is your nationality? ___________________ 

*What is your primary language? _____________________ 

*Number of years coaching swimming competitively: _____________ 

*Average number of hours per week spent coaching 

swimming or completing coaching-related duties:_________________ 

*Age group of competition currently coaching (circle all that apply): 

Pre-high school High school Collegiate 

Post-Collegiate/Professional Other: _______________ 

*If coaching at the collegiate level, what division do you compete at? 

Division I Division II Division III Not Applicable

APPENDIX E 

Coach Burnout Questionnaire 



Please read each statement carefully and decide if you ever feel this way about your 

current coaching involvement. Your current coaching involvement includes all the 

coaching you have done during this season. Please indicate how often you have had this 

feeling or thought this season by circling a number 1 to 5, where 1 means "I almost never 

feel this way" and 5 means "I feel that way most of the time." There are no right or 

wrong answers, so please answer each question as honestly as you can. Please make sure 

you answer all items. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. 

Almost Rarely Some- Fre- Almost 

never times quently always 

1. I’m accomplishing many worthwhile 1 2 3 4 5 

things in coaching swimming. 

2. I feel so tired from my coaching swimming that I have 1 2 3 4 5 

trouble finding energy to do other things. 

3. The effort I spend coaching swimming would be 1 2 3 4 5 

better spent doing other things. 

4. I feel overly tired from coaching swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

5. I am not achieving much in coaching swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

6. I don’t care as much about my coaching 1 2 3 4 5 

performance as much as I used to. 

7. I am not performing up to my ability in 1 2 3 4 5 

coaching swimming. 

8. I feel “wiped out” from coaching swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

9. I’m not into coaching swimming like I used to be. 1 2 3 4 5 

10. I feel physically worn out from coaching swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

11. I feel less concerned about being successful 1 2 3 4 5 

in coaching swimming than I used to. 

12. I am exhausted by the mental and physical 1 2 3 4 5 

demands of coaching swimming. 

13. It seems that no matter what I do, 1 2 3 4 5 

I don’t coach as well as I should. 

14. I feel successful at coaching swimming. 1 2 3 4 5 

15. I have negative feelings towards coaching swimming. 1 2 3 4 5

APPENDIX F 

Leadership Scale for Sports: Coach Perception 



Each of the following statements describe a specific behaviour that a coach may exhibit. For each statement there are five alternatives: 

1. ALWAYS; 2. OFTEN (about 75% of the time); 3. OCCASIONALLY (50% of the time); 

4. SELDOM (about 25% of the time); 5. NEVER 

You are requested to indicate your characteristic behavior by marking an "X" in the appropriate space. There are no right or 

wrong answers. Your spontaneous and honest response is important for the success of the study. 

In coaching I: 

1 2 3 4 5 

1. See to it that athletes work to capacity. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 1 

2. Ask for the opinion of the athletes on strategies for specific competitions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 2 

3. Help athletes with their personal problems. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 3 

4. Compliment an athlete for good performance in front of others. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 

5. Explain to each athlete the techniques and tactics of the sport. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 5 

6. Plan relatively independent of the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 6 

7. Help members of the group settle their conflicts. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 7 

8. Pay special attention to correcting athletes' mistakes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 8 

9. Get group approval on important matters before going ahead. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 9 

10. Tell an athlete when the athlete does a particularly good job. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 10 

11. Make sure that the coach's function in the team is understood by all athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 11 

12. Do not explain my actions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 12 

13. Look out for the personal welfare of the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 13 

14. Instruct every athlete individually in the skills of the sport. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 14 

15. Let the athletes share in decision making. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 15 

16. See that an athlete is rewarded for a good performance. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 16 

17. Figure ahead on what should be done. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 17 

18. Encourage athletes to make suggestions for ways to conduct practices. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 18 

19. Do personal favours for the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 19 

20. Explain to every athlete what should be done and what should not be done. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 20 

21. Let the athletes set their own goals. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 21 

22. Express any affection felt for the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 22 

23. Expect every athlete to carry out one's assignment to the last detail. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 23 

24. Let the athletes try their own way even if they make mistakes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 24 

25. Encourage the athlete to confide in the coach. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 25 

26. Point out each athlete's strengths and weaknesses. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 26 

27. Refuse to compromise on a point. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 27 

28. Express appreciation when an athlete performs well. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 28 

29. Give specific instructions to each athlete on what should be done in 

every situation. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 29

In coaching I: 


1 2 3 4 5 

30. Ask for the opinion of the athletes on important coaching matters. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 30 

31. Encourage close and informal relations with athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 31 

32. See to it that the athletes' efforts are coordinated. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 32 

33. Let the athletes work at their own speed. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 33 

34. Keep aloof from the athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 34 

35. Explain how each athlete's contribution fits into the total picture. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 35 

36. Invite the athletes home. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 36 

37. Give credit when it is due. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 37 

38. Specify in detail what is expected of athletes. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 38 

39. Let the athletes decide on plays to be used in a game. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 39 

40. Speak in a manner which discourages questions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 40 

41. Make decisions regardless of what athletes think. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 41 

42. Don’t take into account athletes’ suggestions when making decisions. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 42 

43. Control what athletes can and cannot do. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 43

APPENDIX G 

Cover Letter 


Dear Participant, 


This letter is a request for you to take part in a research project to determine the 

relationship of coaches’ decision-making styles on burnout in coaches and athletes. This 

project is being conducted by Brandonn Harris of the School of Physical Education at 

West Virginia University as a part of a master’s thesis. Your participation in this project 

will take approximately 15 minutes and will entail answering 3 questionnaires. Upon 

completion of these questionnaires you will be asked to place them in a sealed envelope 

and return them to the research investigator. 

Your involvement in this project will be anonymous. Your name or other identifying 

information will not be recorded for this study. Your participation in this project is 

completely voluntary and you do not need to answer any questions that you do not wish 

to answer. You may also stop your participation at any time without penalty if you desire. 

Your class standing and grades (if a student-athlete) or employment status (if a coach) 

will not be affected by your agreement or refusal to participate in this research project. 

I appreciate your consideration in taking part of this research project. 

Thank you for your time and help with this project. 

Sincerely, 

Brandonn Harris 

West Virginia University 

School of Physical Education 

P.O. Box 6116 

Morgantown, WV 26506-6116 

bharris7@mix.wvu.edu

APPENDIX H 

IRB Approval 



APPENDIX I 

Review of Literature 



The present section attempts to examine the current state of burnout in the sport 

domain In doing so, the definitions, signs, symptoms, main theoretical frameworks used 

to explain burnout, and the assessment of burnout will be addressed. In addition, the 

phenomenon as it relates to coaches and athletes will be discussed. Research on 

leadership and coach and athlete burnout will also be addressed. Finally, suggestions for 

burnout’s treatment and prevention according to the literature will be presented followed 

by a summary and direction for future research. 

Defining Burnout and Related Terms 

Several terms are often encountered in the burnout literature, many of which are 

often used interchangeably. It is important to distinguish how these and alternative terms 

differ from burnout. Overtraining is one related term present in the literature. 

Interestingly, this term has been defined both as a positive and negative occurrence 

(Raglin &Wilson, 2000). Overtraining can be viewed as part of a process (known as 

periodization) by which an athlete’s training schedule is increased above its usual levels 

followed by a tapering period for performance improvement (Raglin, 1993; Raglin & 

Wilson, 2000). However, performance is not always enhanced as a result of this increase 

in training. The result of maladaptive responses to overtraining is staleness. Athletes 

have difficulty maintaining their training regimens and are no longer able to gain 

improvements in performance (Weinberg & Gould, 1999). Symptoms associated with 

staleness more so than burnout include hypercortisolism, premature fatigue during 

training, decreases in muscular strength, and changes in athlete’s perception of physical 

effort (Raglin & Wilson, 2000). While some of these symptoms of mood disturbances 

and performance decrements are seen in burnout, they have been suggested to be directly


related to training load during staleness as opposed to cognitive factors as in burnout 

(Raglin, 1993; Raglin & Wilson, 2000). 

Another term that utilizes a more holistic approach in describing related concepts 

has also been presented. Henschen (2000) chose the term maladaptive fatigue syndrome 

suggesting it encompasses or mirrors common terms like burnout, overtraining, and 

staleness. Using work by Gould (1996), this syndrome was defined as a psychobiosocial 

state that resulted in a physical, psychological, and emotional withdrawal from an activity 

that was once enjoyable and motivating. Henschen (2000) further noted that maladaptive 

fatigue syndrome was due to excessive fatigue. While this phenomenon was noted to 

contain the same elements of overtraining, staleness, and burnout, it was preferred 

because it identifies the actual situation, because other terms are grounded in the fatigue 

syndrome that have remained unaddressed, and because of its holistic nature that allows 

for flexibility. 

It would also be advantageous to operationally define burnout before examining 

its theoretical frameworks, assessment, occurrence, and prevention. However, a uniform 

definition has been difficult to formulate because of its complexity, and has yet to be 

identified both in and out of a sport context (Dale & Weinberg, 1989; Dale & Weinberg, 

1990; Fender, 1989; Raedeke, 1997; Raedeke, Lunney, & Venables, 2002). Raedeke et 

al. (2002) further stated that a definition of burnout including key signs and symptoms is 

crucial in order to make progress with its related research. There is agreement among 

professionals that burnout’s various definitions usually acknowledge a multidimensional 

syndrome (Dale & Weinberg, 1989; Gould, 1996). Definitions also tend to vary 

according to the theory providing the framework for a particular study.


A popular definition came from research conducted by Maslach and Jackson 

(1981). They contended burnout could be identified as a syndrome characterized by 

emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a lessened sense of personal 

accomplishment. Although commonly seen in the sport burnout literature, this definition 

has received some criticism. Kallus and Kellman (2000) stressed that too much emphasis 

was placed on the cognitive components of burnout while overlooking physiological, 

emotional, and behavioral characteristics. Perlman and Hartman (1982) presented a 

similar definition based on their summary of early burnout literature which depicted the 

phenomenon as including “emotional and/or physical exhaustion, a lowered job 

productivity, and overdepersonalization” (p.293). 

Another common definition of burnout stems from Smith’s (1986) theoretical 

work, and is believed to be the most accepted definition for sport purposes thus far 

(Raedeke, 1997). Smith introduced a stress-based explanation asserting burnout should 

be considered a multidimensional experience that includes emotional, psychological, and 

occasionally physical withdrawal from a previously enjoyable activity due to extreme and 

persistent stress. 

Schmidt and Stein (1991) presented an alternative definition that countered 

Smith’s (1986) description. Using a commitment perspective, they suggested burnout 

occurs when athletes remain in sport for some other reason outside of enjoyment. The 

phenomenon can occur when the costs of participation rise along with an athlete’s 

investment, with no concurrent rise in rewards, and a perception of nonexistent or few 

alternatives.


Finally, another definition has been presented also countering the stress-based 

framework Smith (1986) presented. Coakley (1992) suggested that burnout lies in more 

of a social foundation rather than stress. Young athletes withdraw from sport from 

feelings of disempowerment and a realization that they have little control in the events 

and decisions about their life experiences and developmental direction. While other 

definitions have been presented for burnout in and out of the sport context, they tend to 

be some derivative of one of the above mentioned descriptions driven by their respective 

theoretical framework. 

Signs, Symptoms, and Individual Differences in the Susceptibility to Burnout 

Like the definitions of burnout, signs and symptoms of the phenomenon vary 

according to the theoretical framework used in its examination. There are, however, 

several common characteristics considered by most authors to be indications an 

individual may be experiencing burnout. 

There is a general belief, regardless of theory, that chronic stress plays some role 

in the symptoms, signs, and results of burnout (Dale & Weinberg, 1990). The degree of 

effect chronic stress has varies among authors. Feigley (1984) provided an interesting 

description of burnout as a progressive phenomenon. Those experiencing burnout in its 

beginning stages may experience an increasing state of fatigue and irritability. A loss of 

enthusiasm may also be present at this time. Physically, he or she may notice minor body 

aches and changes in eating patterns. Also present may be feelings of incompetence, 

frustration, and anger. During the intermediate stage, one may exhibit withdrawing or 

silent responses to questions regarding their sport. Physical symptoms would include


more excessive disordered eating patterns and severe fatigue. At its advanced stage an 

athlete would evidence cynicism, alienation, and escapist behavior toward their sport. 

Other research has echoed some of the signs and symptoms Feigley described. 

Physical symptoms also mentioned included fatigue, sleeplessness, headaches, shortness 

of breath, and weight fluctuation. Behaviorally, athletes often are seen as easily angered, 

frustrated, performing inconsistently, and possibly completely dropping out or 

withdrawing from the sport altogether (Fender, 1989; Gould, 1996; Metzler, 2002; 

Raedeke at al., 2002; Smith, 1986). Fender (1989) and Gould (1996) further added that 

emotionally, those experiencing burnout may feel helpless, depressed, irritable, and 

experience negativity towards their sport and other areas of life. 

There is also a belief that certain characteristics will increase athlete susceptibility 

to these signs and symptoms, and ultimately, burnout. Originally, burnout research 

focused on people in the “helping” or “people” professions because of the emotional 

investment these professionals made in their clients(Caccese & Mayerberg, 1984; Capel, 

Sisley, & Desertrain, 1987; Dale & Weinberg, 1989; Fender, 1989; McCann, 1995; 

Vealey et al., 1992). As a result, these people were believed to be at a greater risk of 

experiencing burnout. As the phenomenon made its way into the athletic domain, other 

sport-related characteristics suggested to increase an individual’s likelihood to experience 

burnout were presented. 

Perfectionism and overachieving have been linked to burnout as committed 

athletes may set unrealistic goals and overexert themselves in the pursuit of them 

(Feigley, 1984; Fender, 1989; Henschen, 1998). Gould, Udry, Tuffey, and Loehr (1996) 

found burned out athletes experienced higher parental criticism, greater needs for


organization, and greater concerns over mistakes. While these findings seem to support 

the relationship between perfectionism and burnout, the authors also found burned out 

athletes reported lower personal standards. It was suggested that this subscale has not 

been found to be correlated with negative perfectionist aspects, but positive ones instead. 

Henschen (1998) and Feigley (1984) further contended that susceptible individuals are 

also other-oriented, having a strong desire to be liked by others and overly sensitive to 

criticism. In addition, these authors add that burnout victims may lack assertive 

interpersonal skills, making expressing negative feelings or setting boundaries more 

difficult without experiencing guilt in doing so. While it appears that several factors are 

associated with the occurrence of burnout in the sport domain, it should be noted that it is 

a unique and personal experience that may vary among individuals (Gould, Tuffey, Udry, 

& Loehr, 1997). 

Major Theoretical Frameworks Supporting Burnout 

Smith (1986) proposed a cognitive-affective model that utilized an interactional 

approach emphasizing stress as a primary influence of burnout (see Figure 2). His model 

contained four components that helped to explain the nature of this phenomenon. The 

first stage considers the situation itself, which involves some interaction between the 

environment and the athlete’s personal/environmental resources. The interaction places 

some sort of demand on the athlete, whether high or low, that brings about the second 

stage of the model. There, a cognitive appraisal of the demand occurs. The demand will 

be perceived as high if, for example, it is appraised as being conflicting in nature or 

overloads the athlete. Another possibility is a low perceived demand if it is appraised as 

having little reward, not contributing to athlete autonomy, or is boring. In both instances,


stress occurs from the appraisal of mismatch between the demand, and the lack of or 

abundance of coping resources. When stress occurs the third stage of the model is 

initiated. The harm or danger emanating from the appraisal is suggested to cause 

physiological responses in the athlete, including anxiety, tension, anger, and fatigue. It 

should be noted that at this stage, the physiological responses provides feedback to the 

athlete about the situation and contributes to a positive or negative re-appraisal of the 

situation. The physiological response(s) will lead the athlete to the fourth stage of the 

model, which is an overt coping behavior. These could include decreased performance, 

communication problems, and/or withdrawal from the sport itself. 

Some have praised this model for its interactional approach to understanding the 

nature of burnout (Dale & Weinberg, 1990) and for the usefulness it has in delineating 

targets for intervention (Rotella, Hanson, & Coop, 1991). The model not only 

incorporates situational, cognitive, physiological, and behavioral components, but 

suggests that personality and motivational aspects act upon each of the stages as well. 

Another strength of the model lies in its ability to differentiate between those who 

withdraw from sport due to burnout (a result of stress explained by the model) and those 

who withdraw for other reasons. Despite this intuitive appeal, little research attention has 

been given to this model in explaining burnout in athletes (Gould, 1996). However, some 

research has used this model in explaining coach burnout. 

Vealey et al. (1992) utilized this model to examine cognitive, dispositional, and 

situational predictors of coach burnout. Cognitive appraisal factors of interest were 

perceived stress and meaningfulness of work. Intrapersonal factors included gender, the 

presence of a partner, and coaching experience. The dispositional factor of interest was


trait anxiety. Situational factors included amount time spent working and in leisure, level 

of coaching, and sport type. The results indicated that trait anxiety was the strongest 

predictor in burnout among coaches. Coaches who approached their job with feelings of 

nervousness and worry tended to experience higher levels of burnout. Cognitively, the 

results indicated that high levels of burnout were associated with a lack of perceived 

meaningful accomplishments, as well as a perceived lack of control, success and support. 

Intrapersonally, only gender emerged as relating to burnout, with females reporting 

greater levels than males. The authors suggest that the results provide some support for 

this model, particularly for its cognitive and dispositional factors. 

Kelley and Gill (1993) also employed Smith’s (1986) model of burnout in their 

examination of collegiate teacher-coaches. They sought to identify the relationship of 

personal and situational variables to stress appraisal, and the relationship of stress 

appraisal to burnout. The results of their work revealed that satisfaction with social 

support, more coaching experience, and gender (with males scoring lower) were 

predicative of stress appraisal. In addition, a greater stress appraisal was linked to higher 

levels of burnout. The authors suggest that their results provide strong support for 

Smith’s (1986) proposed model of burnout. 

Gould, Tuffey, Udry, and Loehr (1996) conducted qualitative research in an 

attempt to examine various aspects of burnout in junior tennis players. The authors 

analyzed their results keeping three models of burnout in mind. These included Silva’s 

(1990) negative training stress model, Coakley’s (1992) socialization model, and Smith’s 

(1986) cognitive-affective model. Gould, Tuffey, and colleagues (1996) concluded that 

their results were best explained using Smith’s model as a framework as it was the most


comprehensive, taking into account situational and personal variables and the athlete’s 

appraisal of stress. 

Other stress-based models have been presented to explain burnout. 

Silva (1990) presented a stress-based model that used training stress syndrome as a 

theoretical foundation to understand burnout (see Figure 3). He contended that 

participation in competitive athletics introduces physical and psychological training stress 

upon an athlete. In coping with these stressors athletes adapted positively or negatively. 

With positive training stress principles of overload are utilized, pushing athletes to adapt 

at higher output levels using effective coping and problem solving strategies. These 

positive improvements result in training gains. Conversely, negative training stress 

occurs when athletes adapt poorly to the increased stress or overload conditions. Factors 

related to this adaptation include insufficient rest patterns, boredom, and conflict. When 

negative adaptation occurs to training stress, responses occur along a regressive 

psychophysiological continuum. The training stress syndrome explains this continuum. 

The first stage, staleness, is considered to be the initial failure of an athlete’s mechanisms 

to psychologically and physically adapt to training stress. The next stage, overtraining, 

occurs after the body repeatedly fails to cope with what has become chronic training 

stress. There are observable changes in an athlete’s sport performance and mental 

orientation. If nothing is done to address staleness and overtraining, burnout becomes a 

likely result and is the final stage in the model. According to Silva, burnout is 

characterized as an exhaustive physical and psychological response to frequent, 

unsuccessful attempts to cope with extreme training and competitive stressors.


Tennebaum, Jones, Kitsantas, Sacks, and Berwick (2003a) presented the most 

recent stress-based model that suggested the related terms such as overtraining, staleness, 

and burnout were better explained with a failure adaptation in response to stress (see 

Figure 4). Failure adaptation was defined as “a state of physiological, behavioral, 

emotional, and/or cognitive malfunction due to inadequate adaptive responses towards 

the situation” (p. 20). This model, known as the Stress Response Process, incorporated 

previous models (Coakley, 1992; Silva, 1990; Smith, 1986) to extend the perspective of 

the stress environment and the complete athlete response to stress (Tennebaum, Jones, 

Kitsantas, Sacks, and Berwick, 2003b). Stressors were at the top of the model and were 

described as originating from environmental, physical, social, general life (outside of 

sport), or secondary (emotional or cognitive) sources. The next stage of the model was 

the athlete’s perception or appraisal of the stressor(s). This subjective appraisal, as 

opposed to the objective reality of the stressor, dictated the form and intensity of an 

athlete’s stress response. Possible ways of perceiving a stressor were as a challenge, 

threat, relaxing, or boring. Further, an athlete’s appraisal process consisted of the 

athlete’s initial appraisal, his/her appraisal of the coping resources necessary to deal with 

the stressor(s), his/her appraisal of the consequences from meeting or failing to meet its 

demands, and the level of importance those consequences have for the athlete. An 

athlete’s appraisal is mediated by their disposition and state. Important factors included 

an athlete’s self-efficacy, social support, goal setting, anxiety, method of attribution, and 

attachment. 

Following the appraisal process was the athlete’s defense strategy used to cope 

with the stressor(s). These reactions were categorized into physiological, behavioral,


emotional, and cognitive categories. The success of an athlete’s adaptation to stress was 

contingent upon the success of their coping strategy in combating the stressor(s). The 

result of his/her coping response influenced that athlete’s state of adaptation. Failure to 

adapt was marked by one’s physiological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral 

responses. Physiological signs of failure adaptation were exhaustion, illness, increase in 

injuries, and a decrease in physiological capacity. Cognitively, one might expect to 

experience catastrophic thinking, paranoia, and learned helplessness. Behaviorally, 

failure adaptation was characterized by avoidance of practices and/or competitions. 

Emotionally, he/she might experience extreme anxiety or affective disorders. 

Because this model was recently developed research has yet to assess its utility. 

However, Tennebaum et al. (2003b) conducted follow-up research to explore the value of 

their model. The authors quantitatively and qualitatively studied 14 elite cyclists over 20 

weeks. Their results supported their hypotheses derived from the Stress Response Model. 

They noted that the model was successful in monitoring athletes’ stress response process. 

The authors concluded that their model provides the means to examine the 

comprehensive interaction of variables that were believed to affect an athlete’s adaptation 

to stress. 

Coakley (1992) presented an alternative model to the abovementioned, stress- 

based theories. Although he acknowledged stress as an important component in 

understanding burnout (a symptom rather than cause), Coakley suggested burnout is best 

explained as a social phenomenon rather than a personal failure in coping with stress. 

Specifically, he proposed that burnout is more closely tied to the social development of 

young athletes, the social relations involved with participating in sport, and the social

organization of sport performance. Young athletes were believed to burnout and 

withdraw from competitive sport because of a restricted set of life experiences. 

Participating in their sport leaves these athletes feeling disempowered in their 


development, resulting in a unidimensional self concept based solely on sport. Burnout 

also occurred from an athlete’s perceived lack of autonomy and control over their life 

from the power relationships surrounding their sport. Coakley’s model received some 

support for its consideration of the social influences on burnout, a component that the 

stress-based models neglected. While the theory seems to lack the interactional approach 

that others incorporate, research has demonstrated results that suggested a burnout model 

should include social influences (Kjormo & Halvari, 2002). 

A final athlete burnout perspective utilizes an investment paradigm. Schmidt and 

Stein’s (1991) sport commitment model was developed to facilitate predictions about 

environments fostering continued sport participation, dropout, and burnout. They 

believed that athletes with high commitment remain in sport for one of two reasons. 

Those who are experiencing an increase in rewards, investment, and satisfaction with a 

concurrent decrease in costs and alternatives remain in sport for enjoyment reasons. 

Conversely, high commitment athletes remaining in sport for reasons not related to 

enjoyment are prone to burnout. Their sport experience would consist of an increase in 

costs and investments with a concomitant decrease in rewards and perceived alternatives. 

Raedeke (1997) suggested these athletes may remain in sport because they feel as though 

they have to, a concept described as “entrapment”. The model differentiates dropout 

from burnout with its investment and alternative components. Whereas athletes prone to 

burnout experience an increase in their sport investment and decrease in perceived

alternatives to participation, dropout victims observe a decrease in investment and 


increase in alternatives, giving them an opportunity to take up a more attractive activity. 

In response to the dearth of research on the commitment model of burnout, 

Raedeke (1997) examined this perspective in swimmers while incorporating some of the 

social aspects of Coakley’s (1992) research. His results indicated those athletes who 

exhibited characteristics suggestive of entrapment experienced higher burnout levels. In 

particular, four profiles were found to resemble those as denoted by Schmidt and Stein 

(1991) and Coakley (1992). Included was enthusiasm, with those demonstrating higher 

degrees experiencing lower levels of burnout. In addition, swimmers who were 

malcontented and obligated in their participation had higher levels of burnout. Finally, 

swimmers who were indifferent about their sport participation exhibited moderate 

attraction to swimming and reported few benefits by participating. This was noted to be 

similar to the low commitment profile identified by Schmidt and Stein (1991). In 

addition, results indicated that low perceived control and high social constraints were 

leading sources of entrapment. As the resulting profiles were similar to what was 

expected for entrapment, dropout, and attraction profiles, Raedeke (1997) noted the 

results of this research suggested a commitment model of burnout is a viable model by 

which to increase the understanding of burnout. Raedeke, Granzyk, and Warren (2000) 

have also applied a similar commitment model of burnout to coaches. The authors 

surveyed 295 USA Swimming coaches on their determinants of commitment, their 

experiences of the exhaustive component of burnout, and their actual commitment to 

determine if salient profiles could be identified and linked to different levels of burnout 

and commitment. Their results yielded three profiles including attraction-based

commitment, low commitment, and entrapment. Entrapped coaches reported higher 


levels of burnout than the less committed or attracted coaches. The authors gave further 

support for the use of a commitment-based model in understanding burnout. 

Burnout Assessment 

Maslach and Jackson (1981) composed a burnout inventory that has been 

recognized as the most widely used and accepted measure (Dale and Weinberg, 1990; 

Fender, 1989). The authors used interview and questionnaire data previously collected to 

construct preliminary items assessing hypothesized aspects of burnout. The preliminary 

items were presented in a Hassles scale and administered to 420 individuals in helping 

occupations. From their factor analysis of the results and items, three factors emerged 

that were eventually retained for the final measure known as the Maslach Burnout 

Inventory (MBI). 

The MBI measures the intensity and frequency of three dimensions believed to be 

associated with burnout: emotional exhaustion (feelings of being overextended and 

emotionally exhausted), depersonalization (an impersonal response towards the 

beneficiary of one’s services), and personal accomplishment (feeling of competence and 

achievement with people in one’s employment). These subscales have nine, five, and 

eight items, respectively. It should be noted that higher scores on the emotional 

exhaustion and depersonalization scales denote a higher degree of experienced burnout. 

Lower scores on the personal accomplishment scales signify a higher burnout level. 

Reliability was demonstrated for the inventory as a whole (Maslach and Jackson, 

1981). Cronbach’s coefficient alpha scores of .83 and .84 for frequency and intensity, 

respectively. Acceptable reliability was also found for emotional exhaustion’s frequency

(.89) and intensity (.86), depersonalization’s frequency (.77) and intensity (.72), and 

personal accomplishment’s frequency (.74) and intensity (.74). The authors also 


demonstrated sufficient test-retest reliability using a time interval of two-four weeks. All 

reliability coefficients for the subscales’ frequency and intensity were above .60. 

Maslach and Jackson (1981) established adequate convergent validity of the 

inventory in three ways. Scores on the MBI were correlated with the following criteria: 

independent behavior ratings by a person who knew the subject well, the presence of job 

characteristics likely to contribute to burnout, and measures of outcomes hypothesized to 

relate to burnout. To establish discriminant validity, scores on the MBI and an inventory 

measuring job satisfaction were correlated. The results indicated that less than six 

percent of variance was accounted for by the correlations, indicating that the MBI is not 

measuring the construct of job satisfaction, thus providing support for the inventory’s 

discriminant validity. 

Research outside of the sport realm has further examined the psychometric 

properties and efficacy of the MBI. Densten’s (2001) examination of the MBI’s 

conceptualization and psychometric properties generated a five-factor structure opposed 

to the original three-factor design. The research supported emotional exhaustion splitting 

into psychological and somatic strain components. Further, the personal accomplishment 

subscale was broken down into lack of self and others. 

Wright and Bonett (1997) tested the relationships between the three dimensions of 

the MBI with work performance. Their results only yielded a significant negative 

relationship between the emotional exhaustion subscale and work performance. The 

study’s longitudinal design confirmed the need for future longitudinal burnout designs

that allow for its process to occur, prompting subsequent research to follow similar 

designs (Bakker, Schaufeli, Sixma, Bosveld, & Van Dierendonck, 2000). 


While the MBI has been used with research in the sport environment, some have 

cautioned about extending its use beyond the helping professions it was originally 

constructed for (Raedeke et al., 2002). Inventories have been constructed since the MBI 

that deal with burnout in an athletic context. Fender (1988) constructed a modified 

version of the MBI adapted for sport, known as the Sport Adaptation of the Maslach 

Burnout Inventory (SAMBI) 

The items of the original MBI were modified to reflect sport situations. The 

revised inventory was finalized and administered to collegiate athletes to assess its 

psychometric integrity. Internal consistency was established for the emotional 

exhaustion subscale. However, the depersonalization and personal accomplishment 

subscales did not achieve either significance or the necessary criterion value. External 

reliability was established for all three subscales using a test-retest procedure and Pearson 

Product Moment correlation. Validity analyses suggested that the three factors 

accounting for about one-half of the total variance represented emotional exhaustion, 

depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. There were several items that on the 

MBI, did not identify with its equivalent factor of the SAMBI. As a result, it was 

suggested to exert caution when interpreting the validity of this sport-revised version. 

Future research could test the SAMBI with a larger population and spanning a greater 

demographical area. 

A more recent, sport specific inventory was presented by Raedeke and Smith 

(2001). The authors formulated the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire in stages and around a


modified Maslach and Jackson (1981) definition of burnout to fit a sport environment. 

The burnout definition used for its development included emotional and physical 

exhaustion, a reduced sense of accomplishment, and a devaluation of sport. This 

inventory will be utilized for the present study and is discussed in detail in the 

methodology chapter of this proposal. 

Athletes and Burnout Research 

Research on athlete burnout has examined various aspects using some of the 

established theoretical frameworks. Silva (1990) surveyed 68 collegiate athletes from 10 

different sports on their perspectives of the causes, symptoms, and frequency of negative 

training stress responses in formulating his theoretical framework of staleness, 

overtraining, and burnout. With regards to burnout, almost 47% of athletes reported 

experiencing burnout with a strong majority indicating the phenomenon was believed to 

be the worst possible response to training stress. Symptoms of burnout reported by 

athletes included a loss of interest and desire to participate, extreme emotional and 

physical exhaustion, and an absence of caring. While this research has contributed to 

burnout’s knowledge base, it has been criticized for not operationally defining burnout 

for the study’s participants (Raedeke et al., 2002). 

In a related study, Murphy, Fleck, Dudley, and Callister (1990) found that 

increases in volume training loads in judo athletes resulted in concomitant increases in 

anger and anxiety levels and a decrease in selected performance indicators. While 

burnout was not a dependent variable in this study, the results provide some support for 

Silva’s (1990) model. Specifically, increases in training loads were shown to have some


negative impact on the psychological and physical aspects of participation, similar to 

what the training stress syndrome advocates. 

In establishing an alternative model to stress-based theories, Coakley (1992) 

interviewed adolescent athletes identified as burnout cases about their sport experiences 

and how their participation was tied to other areas of their lives. His results indicated that 

while stress is associated with burnout, its roots seemed to rest in a social framework. 

Athletes tended to tie their non-sporting activities to their sport participation, and 

mentioned experiencing stress and pressure from sport due to a perceived lack of control 

over their life. Further, participants expressed disappointment on missing other 

experiences their peers had due to their sport participation. Coakley concluded that 

burnout occurred from a unidimensional self-concept based solely on sport, and a lack of 

control over their sport experiences and general life development. 

Other athlete burnout research has generated results that seem to mirror Coakley’s 

findings. Kjormo and Halvari (2002) examined the relationship between burnout and 

various environmental and personal factors. Their survey of 136 Olympic athletes 

indicated athlete burnout was negatively correlated with their appraisal of confidence and 

group cohesion, and positively correlated with role conflict and lack of time with 

significant others outside sport. These findings further support the notion that burnout 

may be best explained by a model that acknowledges social influences. 

Interestingly gender differences in burnout among athletes has received little 

attention. Lai and Wiggins (2003) examined burnout perceptions in collegiate soccer 

players. Their hypotheses were formulated based on gender and burnout research 

conducted with coaches. They found that while burnout symptoms significantly increased


over the course of a competitive season, no gender differences in burnout perceptions 

were existent. The authors suggested that future research address possible gender 

differences in burnout among athletes. This is important so future research examining 

gender and burnout among athletes can formulate hypotheses based on previous athlete 

literature and not from coach research. 

Coaches and Burnout Research 

Research has examined various aspects of burnout and has discovered several 

components mediating its occurrence in coaches. The issue of role conflict and 

ambiguity on coach burnout has been the subject of inspection. Capel et al. (1987) found 

role conflict related significantly to emotional exhaustion, and role ambiguity with 

depersonalization. Years as a head coach related with scores on the personal 

accomplishment scale. While the results pertaining to role conflict and ambiguity only 

accounted for a small percentage of the data variance, the findings have been supported 

by other research with coaches (Weiss, 1987a) and athletes (Kjormo & Halvari, 2002). 

Contrary to the relationship the authors found with regards to years coaching and 

burnout, Vealey and colleagues (1992) did not find years coaching related to burnout in 

either gender, indicating another potential area for future attention. 

Research has also inspected the role gender plays in coach burnout; however, 

equivocal findings have been demonstrated (Davenport, 1998). Caccese and Mayerberg 

(1984) administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory to 231 collegiate head coaches. 

Their results indicated that female coaches experienced significantly higher levels of 

burnout denoted by greater levels of emotional exhaustion and lower levels of personal 

accomplishments than their counterpart. No gender differences were found regarding the


depersonalization subscale. Similar results have been mirrored by other studies regarding 

the emotional exhaustion subscale (Kelley, 1994; Kelley, Eklund, & Ritter-Taylor, 1999; 

Pastore & Judd, 1993; Vealey et al., 1992). However, Pastore & Judd (1993) and Vealey 

and colleagues (1992) failed to demonstrate any gender differences regarding the 

personal accomplishment subscale. Where these studies have found no gender 

differences regarding the depersonalization subscale of the MBI, others have suggested 

males experience greater levels of depersonalization than females (Dale & Weinberg, 

1989). It can be concluded that gender differences in burnout among coaches needs 

further examination to help clarify the inconsistent findings of the previous research. 

Leadership Behavior and Burnout 

A line of athlete burnout research of particular interest to the present investigator 

has inspected the role coaches play in the occurrence of burnout among athletes. Vealey 

et al. (1998) examined the influences perceived coaching behaviors had on athletes’ 

burnout. Through their investigation of 149 female collegiate athletes and 12 coaches, 

authors found several coaching behaviors relating to athlete’s burnout. Results suggested 

that those athletes scoring higher on the negative self-concept, emotional and physical 

exhaustion, devaluation, and psychological withdrawal dimensions perceived coaching 

behaviors to be less empathetic, stressing winning more than development, and using 

more dispraise and an autocratic coaching style. These results were complimented by 

research conducted by Price and Weiss (2000). These authors discovered that female 

varsity soccer players experiencing low perceived sport competence and pleasure along 

with higher anxiety and burnout levels reported coaching behaviors that were 

characterized by less instruction or training, social support, positive feedback and more


autocratic in nature. More important to the proposed research, it was also found that 

athletes who reported lower levels of burnout also perceived coaching behaviors to be 

more democratic rather than autocratic in nature. 

Similarly, research has also examined the role coach leadership behaviors play in 

burnout among coaches. Dale and Weinberg (1989) surveyed 302 high school and 

collegiate coaches to determine the relationship between leadership style and burnout. 

The authors found that coaches exhibiting a consideration style of leadership rather than 

an initiating structure style scored higher on the depersonalization and emotional 

exhaustion subscales, a result also suggested by more recent research (Price & Weiss, 

2000). Those authors found that coaches who scored higher on the emotional exhaustion 

subscale were perceived by athletes as using more democratic and less autocratic 

decision-making behaviors. Consideration style coaches typically exhibit more of a 

friendship, trustworthy, and respectful interactions with their athletes. Dale and 

Weinberg (1989) noted this style of leadership is often associated with coaches who are 

democratic, oriented in intrapersonal relationships, caring, approachable, and warm. This 

disposition may invite them to become emotionally invested in their athletes. This may 

relate to an other-oriented approach to coaching, a personality characteristic which has 

been linked to burnout (Feigley, 1984; Henschen, 1998). 

Other research has demonstrated an opposing relationship between burnout and 

leadership. Kelley et al. (1999) found that coaches who reported more consideration 

leadership behaviors also reported lower burnout levels. Similar trends have also been 

suggested as coaches who scored higher on burnout subscales of depersonalization and 

emotional exhaustion have been perceived by their athletes as using more of an autocratic


style of coaching (Vealey et al., 1998). In attempting to explain this discrepancy in the 

coach population, Vealey and colleagues (1998) suggested methodological differences 

may be at fault. Dale and Weinberg (1989) assessed leadership behaviors through 

coaches’ self-reported measures. The Vealey study (1998) determined leadership 

behaviors using athletes’ perceptions of the coaching behaviors. This difference in 

measurement may have lead to the equivocal findings. 

The results of the decision-making behavior and burnout research warrant future 

attention. The literature suggests that the coaches’ decision-making style (democratic or 

consideration) which has been shown to ignite at times their own burnout is one that may 

keep athletes from experiencing burnout. Further, the decision-making style linked to 

athlete burnout (autocratic or initiating structure) may be one that protects coaches from 

experiencing the same. With the results of the abovementioned research equivocal, 

future research is clearly needed to further examine this issue to clarify this relationship 

and reduce the likelihood of either group experiencing burnout. 

Prevention and Treatment of Burnout 

Various approaches have been offered for treating and preventing burnout. 

Outside of a sport context, Pines (2000) proposed a psychodynamic existential 

perspective on burnout and believed the phenomenon occurred when individuals failed to 

derive meaning in their lives from their career. Although the theory was presented 

outside the sport context, it lends itself nicely to coaches, who could fail to perceive life 

significance from their effort and work in a sport environment. In treating burnout, it was 

necessary to identify the conscious and unconscious reasons for an individual’s choice in 

vocation and how this choice was believed to lead to a sense of life significance. In

addition, it was important to determine why a person failed to derive a sense of 


significance from their work and how this failure relates to burnout. Finally, changes that 

were believed to enable the person to achieve meaning in life through their work were 

established to help treat burnout. 

Much like the definitions of burnout, how to overcome the phenomenon as it 

occurs in sport varies depending on the theoretical framework used to explain burnout. 

Based on his cognitive-affective stress model, Smith (1986) suggested the additional or 

unnecessary sources of stress placed on athletes not endemic to the sport setting be 

addressed. Advocated were sport programs that diversify practices, modify problematic 

coaching and parental behaviors, and structuring sport experiences that are rewarding to 

the athlete. Further, learning athletic and problem-solving skills could enhance an 

athlete’s coping ability to perceived stress. Fostering social support through team 

building, communication training, and coach training was also believed to help reduce the 

likelihood of burnout. Other research has provided similar suggestions, stressing the 

importance of social support and communication skills, a creative and fun training 

environment, and providing rewarding experiences where athletes feel a sense of 

accomplishment (Feigley, 1984; Fender, 1989; Gilbert, 1988; Raedeke et al., 2002; 

Rotella et al., 1991). 

Rotella et al., (1991) presented additional suggestions empirically supported for 

athletes to help prevent burnout from occurring as well as suggestions for coaches to 

assist their athletes in avoiding burnout. Ideas for athletes were to have a well-rounded 

identity and sport interests, take days off from practice or find time to relax, emphasize 

quality practices rather than its quantity, and to try and make practicing and competing

fun. Suggestions for coaches in keeping their athletes from burning out included 

watching signs for staleness, having an awareness of personalities that are more 


susceptible to burnout, vary practices, and encouraging athletes to keep balance in their 

lives and pursue non-sport interests. 

Coakley (1992) recommended moving away from stress as the basis for 

prevention and argued that changes in several social arenas would provide the best means 

for battling burnout. The following areas were targeted for adjustment: the social 

relations associated with the elite sport participation, the amount of control athletes have 

over their lives outside of and in sport, the social organization of sport programs and its 

circumstances of competition and training, and the ability of athletes to assess the reasons 

for their participation and its significance to the rest of their lives. Coakley stressed 

attempting to aid athletes in adjusting to the social isolation and dependency often 

associated with sport only serves to foreclose those athletes’ identity and entrapment in 

sport. Focusing on the social circumstances in which the athlete’s identity is foreclosed 

can help foster autonomy and control over their lives reducing the opportunities for 

burnout, an idea also supported by others (Feigley, 1984). 

Utilizing a stress-based foundation for burnout, Weiss (1987b) provided strategies 

for combating burnout in coaches and proposed psychological skills training to do so. 

Skills recommended to induce relaxation and reduce anxiety and/or stress included self- 

talk modification, controlling physiological arousal, and mental imagery. Also proffered 

were enhancing communication skills, reducing role conflict and ambiguity, seeking 

social support, and reserving time for themselves.


Dale and Weinberg (1989) also offered several strategies for the prevention of 

burnout for coaches with more of a consideration style of leadership. It was 

recommended that coaches focus on quality time with athletes, rather than quantity of 

time. Relaxation, imagery, and goal setting, and other coping techniques should be used 

as stress-management skills to help coaches deal with the pressures associated with their 

vocation. The authors also mentioned that because of the physical symptoms often 

experienced with burnout it is important that coaches maintain a good level of physical 

health by keeping in shape, sustaining a proper diet, and getting adequate sleep. Finally, 

it was suggested coaches realize they are not completely responsible for their athletes’ 

welfare, and to rely on other avenues of social support (i.e. parents, assistant coaches, 

sport psychologist) to help address athlete needs. 

Summary 

The previous chapter discussed the definitions of burnout and its related terms, 

the major theoretical frameworks used to explain its occurrence, and the instrumentation 

available to assess burnout. In addition, burnout as it occurs in both athletes and coaches 

was addressed, as well as suggestions for its treatment and prevention. Despite the 

attention that burnout in a sport context has started to receive, other areas of investigation 

are certainly warranted. 

Price and Weiss (2000) noted that in addition to their own, only one other study 

(Vealey et al., 1998) has examined the relationships between perceived coaching 

behaviors, coach burnout, and athlete burnout (or other psychological outcomes) using 

the multidimensional model of leadership. Two areas of interest are present regarding this 

line of research. First, the relationship of decision-making style and burnout among

coaches has yet to be clearly identified. As mentioned above, research has yielded 


inconsistent findings. An additional issue of concern arises as the coaches’ decision- 

making style that has been linked at times to their own burnout (democratic or 

consideration) is one that may keep athletes from experiencing burnout. Further, the 

decision-making style linked to athlete burnout (autocratic or initiating structure) may be 

one that protects coaches from experiencing the same. Future research is clearly needed 

to further examine this issue to clarify this relationship and reduce the likelihood of either 

group experiencing burnout. 

The aforementioned research has paved the way for future studies to examine 

similar aspects of leadership behavior and both coach and athlete burnout. Despite their 

contributions to the literature, portions of the methodology or study design could be 

modified. For example, although Vealey et al’s. (1998) study included an assessment of 

coach’s use of autocratic behaviors according to athletes, they did not assess athletes’ 

perception of a coach’s use of democratic behavior. In addition, a sport-specific measure 

to assess coach burnout was not used. Further, the sample of coaches included in the 

research was limited (n=12). Price and Weiss’ (2000) study did not include a sport- 

specific instrument to assess coach burnout. Further, their sample size of coaches was 

also limited (n=15). Future research that attempts to identify the relationship between the 

perception of decision-making behaviors utilized by coaches and athlete and coach 

burnout should consider utilizing an adequate sample size of each population as well as 

employing the use of sport-specific measures to assess burnout.

APPENDIX J 

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