Perfectionism and Burnout in Junior Athletes: A Three-Month Longitudinal Study.
Perfectionism in sports has been shown to be associated with burnout in athletes. Whether perfectionism predicts longitudinal changes in athlete burnout, however, is still unclear. Using a two-wave cross-lagged panel design, the current study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and athlete burnout in 101 junior athletes (mean age 17.7 years) over 3 months of active training. When structural equation modeling was employed to test a series of competing models, the best-fitting model showed opposite patterns for perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Whereas perfectionistic concerns predicted increases in athlete burnout over the 3 months, perfectionistic strivings predicted decreases. The present findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns are a risk factor for junior athletes contributing to the development of athlete burnout whereas perfectionistic strivings appear to be a protective factor.
School of Sport & Exercise Sciences, Chatham, Kent, UK.
Daniel J
DJ
Madigan
Joachim
J
Stoeber
Louis
L
Passfield
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000523:psychology*; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult