Burnout and the Changing Landscape of Youth Sport
Tom RaedekeEast Carolina University
Youth Sport SpecializationIs It Too Much Too Soon?
Colby-SawyerMarch 2010
Overview
• Setting the stage: Importance of the Burnout Issue– What is burnout?– Is it prevalent?– Impact on athletes
• What Causes of burnout– Chronic Stress– Erosion of Motivation
• Prevention strategies
Defining Features
Emotional & Physical
Exhaustion
SportDevaluation
Low sense ofPersonal
Accomplishment
Raedeke (1997) Raedeke & Smith (2009)
Other key features• Relatively Chronic State• Different than sport drop out
What is Burnout?Exhaustion
DevaluationReduced senseof accomplishment
The Changing Landscape of Youth Sport• Burnout—A phenomenon on the
rise (or at least increasingly discussed)– Sport specialization at young ages– Near year round training– Professionalization of youth sport– Increasing training demands
9000m per day
How Prevalent is Burnout?
• How prevalent is it?– We aren’t really sure-
Negative Ramifications
• Negative Impact on Athletes’ Sport Experiences– Performance decline– Decreased motivation– Dropout – Negative impact on team climate
Negative Ramifications
• Negative Impact on Well-Being and Health– Mental Health
• Depression• Self-esteem
– Illness susceptibility– Substance abuse
Cresswell & Eklund, 2006
What Causes Burnout?
═ Burnout
Stress = Perceived imbalance between task demands and resources
What makes sport demanding?• Training Demands• * Overtraining
• Too much training with too little recovery
• * Time demands • * Lack of improvement
Gustaffson et al. 2007; Kentta et al 2001
What makes sport demanding?• External Influences• * Parents
• Overinvolved• Supportive, but family life centers around
sport– Lots of time and money invested into sport– No break from sport
• * Pressure from coaches• Negative coaching style• Pressure to win• Building credentials
(Raedeke, Lunney, & Enables, 2002; Gould et al. 1996)
What makes sport demanding• Internal Demands (personality)
* Perfectionism* Trait Anxiety* Contingent Self-esteem* Pessimism/Optimism
(Appleton et al, 2009; Chen et al., 2009; Hill et al, 2009
What about the resource side of the picture?
• Strong Resources—Less Stress and Handle Demands Better
• Social Support• Lifestyle Management• Mental Skills Training• Life balance
Raedeke & Smith, 2004; Gould et al. 1996
Stress Perspective Summarized
High Demands
Personality Coping Resources
Perceived Stress
•Perceived Overload (exhaustion)
•Unmet goals/expectations (reduced accomplishment)
• Lack of enjoyment/meaning (devaluation)
Lifestress
Smith, 1986Goodger et al. 2007
Burnout-Erosion of Motivation • Burnout stems from a lack of fulfillment and
failure to find meaning in sport– While everyone can experience stress,
burnout can only be experienced by people who entered their careers with high expectations, goals, and motivation--people who expected to derive a sense of significance from their work (Pines, 1993)
– State of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a cause or way of life that failed to produce expected reward (Freudenberger and Richelson, 1980)
Burnout = Loss of Meaning• Athletes feel they are trapped,
stifled, and that they are wasting time in sport while missing out on other life opportunities
Bottom Line: Being an athlete and athletic success don’t seem as important or significant as they used to
Why Does Sport Lose Meaning?• Why do athletes’ participate? What
do they expect to gain from sport participation?
Goals and Expectations
• Enjoyment---To have fun• Competence—To be successful• Affiliation—To be part of a team
What causes burnout? Unmet goals and expectations
More On Loss of MeaningCoakley (1992); Black & Smith, 2008Raedeke (1997).
+
_Sport Structure
Control
Multifaceted Identity
Control
Unidim Identity
Burnout linked to erosion of commitment•Two faces of commitment:
– Attraction (enjoyment)-based Commitment• Because they want to be involved • Satisfaction, love of sport
•Passion– Entrapment-based Commitment
• Because they have to be involved• Obligation
• Burnout
Burnout and CommitmentPassion Entrapmen
tLow Commitment
Satisfaction High Low Low
Benefits High Low Low
Costs Low High High
Alternative Options
Low Low High
Investments High High Low
Social Constraints
? High Low
EntrapmentCoakley (1992); Raedeke (1997); Schmidt & Stein (1991)
Entrapment
Decreasing Benefits
Increasing Costs
Decreasing Enjoyment
Investments
Social constraints
Lack of Alternative Options
Control
Identity
Preventing Burnout: Secondary Individual Approaches
• Teach athletes how to deal with the demands of training and competition – Target: Individual Athlete– Typical Approach: Stress Management– Limit: Does not treat source of problem
Organizational Approach: Primary Prevention
• Maslach: “Truth About Burnout”– Organizational/situational factors play
a larger role in burnout than individual characteristics• Approach: Take preventative steps to
improve the quality of athletes’ sport experience (work culture)
• Target: The structure of sport, coaches and parents
Prevention is more effective than intervention
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth A Pound of Cure
Secondary individual approaches do not work as effectively as primary prevention
Psychological Stress: Teach Athletes to Manage Stress
• Individual Centered Intervention Approaches: Stress Management – Identify what is causing stress—develop
plan for dealing with it – Teach athletes how to handle
stress/pressure (mental skills training)• Relaxation, goal setting, anxiety
management, self-talk– Constructive outlooks on
adversity/slumps/lack of improvement – Develop coping resources (e.g., lifestyle
mgt, social support)
Preventing Burnout
• Training demands– Balance training demands and
recovery– Schedule recovery periods/time-outs– Don’t increase training demands
when other stressors are on the rise– Focus training plan on long term
development—not short term gain
Psychological Stress: Primary Prevention Strategies (empower athletes)• Parent Education• Develop a Positive Coaching style
– Empathy– Quality teaching and instruction
• Reinforcement• Instruction• Encouragement
– Autonomy supportive versus coercive environment• Choice, ownership, involvement, rationale
– Mastery versus performance oriented motivational climate
•Price & Weiss, 2000; •Raedeke & Smith
• Performance Climate• Winning is
emphasized• Shift in focus from
learning to performing skills– Team with fewest
mistake win– Mistakes are
viewed as failure– Focus on social
comparison
• Mastery Climate• Why participate:
– The joy is the journey– The process
• What is reinforced, emphasized, and valued?– Effort– Learning and
Improvement– Mistake = part of
learning
Commitment Ideas• Keep passion alive (enjoyment and
benefits)– Incorporate the things that make sport
meaningful into sport experience – Break monotony of practice– Identify positive things about being an
athlete and what you’d miss if left sport
– Help athletes connect with joy of sport– Keep the fun factor high
• Keep investments in balance– Add energizers into week– Strive for life balance– Leave sport on the playing field
• Social constraints and control– Ensure that significant others (coaches, parents) are
a source of support and not stress– Play for own reasons—not others– Create an autonomy supportive environment– Give athletes meaningful control
• Foster a multidimensional identity
Questions, Comments, Problems, Contentions, or Objections?
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