Coach and Athlete Burnout - West Virginia University

Burnout 94
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