COMPARISON OF TEAM AND INDMDUALS,
MALE .AND FEMALE ATHLEES'
POTENTiAL FOR BURNOUT.
AND COPING STRATEGIES
Susan Finch
Department of Physicai Education
Division of Graduate Smdies and Research
Facuity of Education
McGiIl University
Montreair Quebec- Canada
Jul-. 1999
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine whether team and individual,
male and female athletes, have different potentials for burnout, and to examine if
these populations use difTerent coping strategies.
One-hundred and sixteen male, and 57 female varsity and elite judo
athletes completed the EABI and COPE inventories and a personal background
form. T-tests confirmed individuai sport ahletes to be more prone to bumout
than team sport athletes, high Ievel athletes more prone to bumout than those at
lower cornpetitive Ievels and exnotional social support as a coping strategy more
prevalent arnong team than individual sport athletes- No merences were found
between males and females in proneness to bumout or rneans of coping. The
Iength of sport involvernent was not found related to proneness to burnout. The
importance of sport in athletes' lives gave mixed results when related to bumout.
These results, while confirming some earlier findings suggcst also the
need for M e r study.
RESUME
Le but de cette étude était de déterminer s'il existe des différence au
niveau du potential de bumout entre les hommes et femmes athlètes pratiquant
des sports individuels et d'équipes, et d'examiner si ces populations utilisent des
stratégies diffërentes pour s'en sortir.
Cent seize hommes et cinquante-sept femmes athlètes universitaires et
élites de judo ont complete les questionnaires EABE et COPE et une formulaire
d'information personnelle.
Les résultats du test T confirment que les athlétes des sports individuels
sont plus enclins à faire une dépressions (bmout) que les athlètes participant à
des sports d'équipes: que les athlètes de haut niveau de compétition sont plus à
risque que ceux à un niveau de compétition moindre et que le soutien social et
émotionnel comme straté~iepour faire face à la dépression est plus répandu dans
les sport d'équipes que dans les sport individuels. La recherch ne permet pas de
conciure a une différence entre les hommes et les femmes quand à la propension
à la dépression ou quand a u façons d'y faire face. Aucun lien n'a été établi entre
la durée à laquelle ['athlète pratiquait le sport et la propension à faire une
déression. De plus. les résultats sont mixtes quand aux liens entre le sport dans la
vie des athlètes et la propension à faire une dépression.
Ces résultats en même temps qu'ils affirment l'exactitude des résultats de
recherches antérieurs, confirment le besoin de pousser la recherch plus à fond.
The completion of this study would not have been possible without the assistance,
support, and help of the following:
Of course, Dr. Neil, m y advisor, and 'Dad' away fiom home. Thank goodness
you're more patient thm I! What a û5p this has been.. .
To Eliaze, who got to hear me complain more than anyone! Thanks for bearing
with me, and listening to 'just one more thing'. 1love you dearly, and hope 1 can
offer as much help and support to you in the completion of your thesis, as you did
in mine.
To Dr. Montgomery, Dr. Downey, Dr. Pearsall, Dr. Turcotte, and Professor
Wardle for your input and suggestions.
To Tom - that chair became a very cornfortable place to procrastinate.
To Virginia, Marie-Andree, Ingrid, and N o m , for your help, and shoulders.
Finally, to my farnily, who h a . supported me throughout al1 of this mess. 1fkally
did it. Don't worry, l'Il get a job.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................
.
*
-11
...
111
RESUME........................................................................................
ACKNOWLEGDMENTS...................................................................... iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................... v
..
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................. v11
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
Burnout................................................................................ -2
Nature aqd Scope of the Problem .................................................... 4
Statement of the Problem............................................................. 9
Significance of the Study ............................................................. 9
Hypotheses ............................................................................. 10
Definitions. ............................................................................ 10
. . .
Limitations-.......................................................................... -11
Delirnitations-........................................................................ -11
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .................................~........~...........
-12
.
.
O v e r t r m g ..........................................................................-12
Burnout ................................................................................. 15
Smith's (1986) Cognitive Effective Stress Model ...................... 18
Silva's (1990) Negative Training Stress Model.. ..................... -19
Coakley's Unidimensional Identitity..................................... 20
Development and Extemal Control Model
-21
Bumout in the Workplace.........................................................
Burnout in Coaches ..................................................................21
Bumout in Athletes ..................................................................22
.
Coping ...............................................................................
-23
Summary. ............................................................................. 27
CHAPTER 3
METHODS AND PROCEDURES.....................................................
Subjects..............................................................................
Athiete Background ................................................................
Instrumentation.....................................................................
-28
-28
-29
-29
Eades Athletic Burnout Inventory....................................... -30
COPE Inventory........................................................... -31
Data Collection......................................................................31
Treatment of the Data. ............................................................-32
Data Analysis- ....................................................................... 33
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS .................................................................................
35
Descriptive Data of the Samples of Subjects................................... 35
Buniout Score Analyses........................................................ -37
COPE Score Analyses........................................................... -39
Relationship Between Burnout and..................................-40
Coping Abilities
Comparison of Team and Individual Sport........................... 42
Participants
COPE Intemal Consistencies.................................................. -43
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION-......................................................................... -44
Burnout and Ways Burnout Varies............................................. 44
Team and Individual Sport Athletes ................................. -44
Length of Sport Involvement......................................... -46
Level of Competition................................................... 47
Level of Importance..................................................... 48
Gender Differences ..................................................... 49
Coping and Coping Responses................................................. 50
Team and Individual Sport Athletes ................. ................. 50
Gender Differences ................................................... -31
Summary....................................................................... 3 2
r
CHAPTER 6
S-Y.
CONCLUSIONS. AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............54
Summary of Procedures ..................................................... -55
Sumrnary of Results and Discussion..................................... - 3 5
Conclusions..................................................................... 58
Implications of the Research .............................................. - 3 9
Recommendations for Future Research ..................................... 61
REFERENCES ........................................................................ -62
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Lnfonned Consent ............................................. 69
Appendix B : Background Information.................................... 70
Appendix C: The Sport Participation Survey............................. 71
Appendix D: Reactions to Chalienge......................................72
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table
Potentiai Markers for Staleness During Overtraining-....................A3
Meaus and Standard Deviations by Type of Sport of
Males and Females on al1 Measures.. ........-............................36
Means and Independent T-test Results of Buniout and
Total Coping Scores of Team and Individual Sport Athletes., -........38
Linear Regression Cornparhg Length of Spoa Involvement,
and Burnout Score.. ..........................................................J 8
3
Means and Independent T-test ResuIts of Burnout Scores of
More Cornpetitive and Less Cornpetitive Athletes.. ................... .3 9
Means and Independent T-test Results of Ernotional and
Instrumental Social Support of Team and Individual Sport
Athletes.. .....................................................................-40
Means and Independent T-test Results Comparing Male and
Female Athletes on Bumout, COPE, and Social Support
Coping Strategies........................................................... -30
Mean Buniout Scores by Level of their Sport's Importance
for Team and Individual Sport Athletes.. ................................4 1
ANOVA for the Effect of Team versus Individual Sport
Participation, and Level of Importance of the Activity on
Burnout ......................................................................
-42
Intemal Consistency for the COPE Scale Subscdes of the
Present Stiidy and Those of C m e r et al.. .............................. -43
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Many stressors are imposed on elite athletes on a daily basis. These stressors may
be physiological or psychological in nature. If conhnuous stress is placed on the body for
an extended length of t h e , a negative reaction may eventually occur. Athletes are
familiar with heavy physical training demands. Elite athletes train at levels approaching
or surpassing their current physical capacity in an attempt to improve performance in
what is called overload training. Using this technique, athletes train at a higher intensity
Level, or for longer duration than previously, hoping to improve fimess and/or skill.
During this penod of heavy training,pe~ormancesometimes deteriorates. This
phenornenon is called overreaching, sometimes described as a short-term version of
overtraining. Overreaching is the intentional or unintentional initiation of short-term
overtraiaing, the symptoms of which can be reversed by a longer than normal
regeneration penod (Fry, Morton & Keast, 1992). Staleness, described as an overall
physical and emotional state, has been suggested as the next step in this cycle. If
deterioration in performance is a long term effect of the excessive training, the
phenornenon is called overtraining. In broad ternis, this means there has been a period of
intense training without adequate recovery time. This takes a toll on the atllete, both
physiologicdly, and psychologically. If the imbalance of training and recovery is chronic,
buniout often follows. In the overtraining Iiterature, the training stress imposed on the
athlete typically refers to physical swess. The existing bumout research literature has had
a tendency to examine the psychological stressors that are imposed on athletes dunng
their everyday lives, and training.
The concept of overtraining has been recognized for years, having been first
discussed by Counsilman (1955) as training fatigue. At that time Counsilman recognized
that ifperiods of intense training were not followed by periods of regeneration, fatigue
wodd set in, and the athlete would expenence a performance deficit.
Overtraining in athletes can be assessed by physiological and psychological
rneasures. Physiological signs of overtraining include changes in resting heart rate; a
decrease in V02 max. performance; changes in blood lactate levels; and a decrease in
body weight (Dishman, 1995). Psychological signs include mood disturbances;
ïrritability; apathy; lack of appetite and sleep disturbances (Kerezty, 1971; Mellerowicz
& Barron, 1971; Wolf, 1971;Ryan, Brown, Frederick, Faisetti & Burke, 1983; Morgan,
Costill, Flynn, Raglin & O'Connor, 1988;Morgan, 1989).
Overtraùiing is cornrnonly depicted as a precursor to bumout (Smith, 1986; Silva,
1990; Hooper, Traeger-MacKinnon, Howard, Gordon & Bachrnann, 1995). It is
understood that initiaily, stressors are placed on the athlete. If the athlete is unable to
cope with these stressors overtraining eventually occurs, followed by burnout.
Burnout
The physiological and psychological signs and syrnptoms of burnout typically
resemble those of overtraining, since one is the precursor of the other. Burnout is usually
identified and described by the following psychologicd symptoms: physical, mental and
emotional exhaustion; loss of energy and purpose; apathy; a loss of interest, concem, and
trust; a loss of idealism, or cynicism towards a job or activity; feelings of low personal
accomplishment, mood disturbances and low self-esteern resulting in low job
productivity for the worker, and a decrease in performance for the athlete.
.
(Freudenberger, Richelson, 1981;Pines, Aaronson & K e y 198 1;Maslach, 1982; Dale
& Weinberg, 1990; Gould, Udry, T e e y & Loehr, 1996). Aithough researchers have
found it djffÏcuit to corne to cornpiete agreement on the concept of bumout, it has
basicdy been accepted to represent a nurnber of interactions, producing physicai,
behavioral, cognitive, affective, and emotional signs and symptoms (Smith, 1986; Dale &
Weinberg, 1990). Dale and Weinberg (1990) suggest that this is a reaction to chronic
stress, m e r i n g slightly for each person, that occurs over time.
Although bumout is a common expression, it is only recently that the topic has
been studied scientificaily (McCann, 1995). Burnout was initially studied in the
workplace by Freudenberger (1974), using psychological measures as the assessrnent
tooIs. Maslach (1976) then focused on those working in human services and the helpïng
professions. People in these fields of work are believed to be more likely than others to
experience buniout because their close personal contact and interaction with others
makes their emotional stress more pronounced (Perhan & Hartman, 1981).
In the late 1 9 7 0 ' ~a~number of studies examined teacher burnout (Bloch, 1976;
Reed, 1979; Serrin, 1979; and Landsmann, 1987). The work environment of a teacher
has characteristics not unlike that of a coach or athiete. Teachers typically work long
hours, use an excessive amount of mental and emotional energy, and have expectations
placed upon them by principals and parents, as well as their students (Dale & Weinberg,
1990). Athletes and coaches also have long practice hourç requiring physical and mental
energy, and then have added pressure on days of competition.
Research involving athletes has shown that those who experience burnout are
believed to be in the presence of chronic stressors, and share traits of perfectionism,
motivation, and high achievement and goal orientation (Smith, 1986; Dale & Weinberg,
1990; Silva, 1990; Sullivan & Nash, 1996).
Silva (1990) has created a mode1 that illustrates the athletic overtrainingf burnout
phenornenon on a continuum. He postdates that if the athlete reacts negatively to an
initial training stress that is impoSed, there is a training plateau or detraining effect, and
staleness occurs. If the training stress is increased or maintained, overtraining occurs,
followed by burnout, and in the worst cases, the athlete withdraws cornpletely from the
activis.
Nature and Scope of the Problem
It has been suggested that athletes involved in individual sports may be more
prone to experience burnout than athletes in other activities (Smith, 1986). Athletes
participating in individual sports often begin at a very young age. This trend is seen in
activities such as tennis, figure skating, swirnming, and gyrnnastics, where the most
highly cornpetitive athletes, among girls in particular, are fiequently in their teens, having
begun training several years before. This may be because the requirements of these
sports have gradually corne to include the necessity of power moves, that smaller, more
compact athletes are able to acconiplish more readily than those who are older and larger
(Nash, 1987). This c m mean that a fifieen year old has been competing for a decade
(Feigley, 1984; Scanlan, Ravizza & Stein, 1989). Some believe that youth are not ready
for this kind of intense training and cornpetition (Nash, 1987; Hellstedt, 1988).
It has also been suggested that less experienced athletes, while perhaps not having
more stressors than their older or more experienced counterparts, ofien have a distorted
perception of those stressors, and are less able to cope effectively aith thern (Smith,
1986; Nash, 1987; Gould, 1996; Gould et ai., 1996). It is expected that athletes who have
remained in their sport for many years and are successful, have been able to adapt by
implementing effective coping strategies, allowing them to deal with stressors.
Felsten and Wilcox (1993) conducted a study, of thirteen 8 to 17 year old figure
skaters at a summer skating school, to examine the relationship between figure skating
performance, perceived stress fiom daily life, and sport specific factors. The Life Events
and Coping Inventory, a child-centered instrument, \vas used to assess daily stressors.
Skating stressors were assessed by a questionnaire developed by the authors. Every
Friday of the four week period, the subjects completed both instruments, and three
qualified skating judges completed an assessrnent of each skater. The judges' evaluations
each week inciuded the amount of stress to which they felt the skaters had been exposed,
and assessments of their individual performances, Felsten and Wilcox (1993) found that
perceived stress fiom daily life and sport specific factors caused a decrease in skating
performance.
Pressure is felt by athletes in many sports fiom a number of sources, including
coaches and parents (Feigley, 1984; Nash, 1987; Scanlan et al., 1991; Gould et al., 1996).
A study by Shank (1983) identified several characteristics and behaviours that distin,ouish
people who are Iikely to burnout, fiom those who are not, including a lack of assertive
interpersonal skills' and motivation from social and interpersonal rewards. It is often
these charactenstics, tearned with perfectionism, that coaches find most desirable
(Feigley, 1984). These athletes are susceptible to burnout because they feel pressure
f?om a coach to perfom, they lack assertiveness and good coping skills, and therefore
cannot deal with the pressure of their activity- It has also been suggested that yowiger or
more inexperienced athletes are more likely to experience overtraining and/or burnout
because they have a less developed sense of body awareness (Feigley, 1984; Gould et al.,
1996; Nash, 1997). The pressure athletes feel fiom their parents is often regarding the
arnount of tirrie and money invested in them (Smith, 1986; Nash, 1987; Heiistedt, 1988;
Gould, 1996). A study of figure skaters by Scanlan et al. (1989) found that at the time of
their subjects' greatest cornmitment to the sport, their families were spending between
$20,000 and $30,000 U S . per year on them, beginning days at 4a.m., and often driving
100 miles per day to anci fiom practices. This could make a young athlete wary of
performing poorly.
Further support for the suggestion that individual sport athletes are prone to
overtraining and burnout cornes fiom Simon and Martens (1979), Smith (1986) and Nash
(1987). Each States that the individual nature of the sport, as opposed to tearn sports,
leaves the athlete more susceptible to burnout. When competing, d l expectations rest on
the individual. There are no teammates with whom to share the glory or blame. Smith
(1986) goes Euaher in saying individual sport athletes are more likely to burnout, because
they receive, in general, less social support than those in tearn activities. Social support is
hypothesized to fünction as a means of reducing the likelihood that situations are
perceived as threatening (Lazams & Folkman, 1984). Hence the support received fiom
others is believed to serve as a device to enhance one's ability to effectively deal with
stressors (Thoits, 1986).
As stated previousiy, perfectionists and highly motivated individuals have been
found to be most susceptible to burnout. Perfectionists typically set high standards for
thernselves, and are often overachievers (Feigley, 1984). Feigley (1984)also suggests
that high level athletes are especially susceptible to burnout because they are jypically
perfectionists who are influenced by others, and lack assertive interpersonal skills. In a
competitive setting, perfectionism can be seen as an asset which helps athletes with the
time demands and effort requirements of their sports (Smith, 1986; Scanlan et ai., 1989).
High motivation wodd also seern to be conducive to success in athletics. The ability to
stay motivated during long training sessions and seasons, is not only an advantage, but
ofien a necessity.
It is aiso believed that athletes' autonomy and perceived control over their lives
are important factors in avoiding bumout (Robinson & Carron, 1982; Feigley, 1984;
Coakley, 1992; Gould et ai., 1996). Perhaps increasingly as athletes get older, they feel
the need to make more decisions for themselves. If athletes feel included in decisions
regarding their training or competitive schedules, they may be less likely to lose
motivation and possibly bumout. If an athlete feels he or she is losing control over a
situation, it may lead to feelings of anger, followed by depression and apathy, which are
al1 characteristics of burnout (Feigley, 1984). Many athletes live and/ or train away fiom
their homes and families (Scanlan et al., 1989; Gould et al., 1996). This may mean they
have not oniy decreased social suppoa, but also reduced opportunïties for decision
making. As training becomes more involved, and the level of cornpetition increases,
athletes have less and less fiee time to develop interpersonal skills, or take part in
activities characteristic of their age groups (Scanlan et ai., 1989; Coakley, 1992).
It has also been noted that as competitive level increases, the incidents of burnout
increase @ale et al., 1990). There are many reasons for this occurrence, including
changes in the arnount of stress placed on the individual because more importance is
placed on training and competitive outcomes ( Dale et al., 1990). The activity rnay be
less 'fun' as the competitive level increases because the athiete may not be winning as
often. Gould et al. (1994) and Robinson et al. (1982) note that high level ametes often
show very little skill improvement, as they have aiready attained competence at their
sport. Therefore, practices becorne mainly about refinïng skills, rather than learning new
ones (Feigley, 1984). Finaliy, as competitive level increases, athletes tend to pIace
excessive demands on themselves since so much is expected of them (Bunker et al.,
1985). These expectations cause reactions such as fear of failure, anxiety, frustration
with coaches, physical overtraining, performance anxiety, and depression @ale et al.,
1990).
Feigley (1984) found that when comparing girls and boys, girls were more likely
to burnout. This may be because girls tend to be involved in individual sports where
they begin at a young age, and the training demands are excessive (i.e. figure skating and
gymnastics) (Feigley, 1984; Nash, 1987).
Coping strategies have been suggested to make a difference in an athletes'
potentid for burnout, It has been suggested that men and women tend to use different
strategies to deal with stressors, as do team and individual sport athletes. It is suggested
by some researchers that women use social support more for coping with stress than do
men (Schnittger & Bird, 1990; Crocker & Graham, 1995; Kolt, Kirby & Linder, 1995).
Kolt et al. (1995) found, however, that in highiy competitive situaltions, social support is
used as a problem focused coping strategy equally by men and women.
Gould et al. (1996) discovered that a sample of tennis players already identified as
'burned out' used planning and positive reinterpretation as coping strategies less than a
comparative group of 'normal' tennis players. It has also been suggested that team
athletes wiU use social support more than individual athletes as a coping tool because of
the social nature of the? respective activities (Smith, 1986).
Statement of the Problem
The purpose of this study is to examine the different potentids for burnout
between team and individual, and male and fernale athletes across a variety of sports,
and to determine the extent to which these populations use different coping strategies.
Significance of the Studv
The implications of research in this area are far reaching. There is the potential to
increase or at least maintain the number of athletes participating in sport, and to ensure
that their participation is both mentdly and physically healthy. There is also the
possibility of decreasing bumout fiequency in elite athletes by Ieaming to recognize
specEc character traits and warning signals of overtraining, staleness, and burnout, and
h a l l y to identiS more clearly some of the coping strategies that may help athletes deal
with the stresses that inevitably corne with cornpetitive sport.
The prevention of burnout seems possible with knowledge and education. This
could ensure more healthy participation in sport. It would be enheartening to know that if
an athlete left their activity, it was because of other, more appealing options, not because
he or she was unable to cope with the stress of the sport.
Reduction of the incidence of burnout would have far reaching positive effects.
The possibility of having uniform definitions and sound physiological and psychological
markers of overtraining and burnout are not beyond reach. This is an excitïng field of
study with many possibilities to make a very positive impact in the sport psychology and
physiology worlds.
1. Individual sport athietes will have higher bumout scores than team athletes.
2. There will be a relationship between length of sport involvement, and
burnout scores.
3. More competitive athletes (be they team or individual) will have higher burnout
scores than less competitive athletes.
4. Athletes (team or individual) who rate the level of importance of their sport high, will
have higher bumout scores than those who rate their sport with a lower level of
importance.
5. Female athletes will have higher burnout scores than maie athletes.
6 . Team sport athletes will use different coping strategies than individual sport athletes.
7. Female athletes will have higher coping scores than male athletes.
8, Female athletes will use social support as a coping strategy more than male athietes.
Definitions
Stress: a perceived or real threat to one's physical and mental well being resulting in a
series of physiological responses and adaptations
Overload Training: a training technique where athletes train at a higher intensity Ievel,
or for a longer dwation than normal, in an attempt to improve fitness
and/or ski11 level.
Overreachinq: the intentional or unintentional initiation of short term overtraining, the
symptoms of which can be reversed after a longer than normal
regeneration penod.
Staleness: a syrnptom of ensuing burnout, or warning of the negative state to corne
Overtcaining: maladaptive response to training stress, often due to chronically high
training stress Ievels without adequate recovery intervals.
Bumout: the presence of chronic perceived stressors that lead to mental, emotional, and
physical withdrawal fiom a formerly enjoyed activity.
Limitations
Because only McGill University athletes, and Canadian National Judo tearn
members training in Montreal were surveyed, caution is necessary in
generalizing the resuits to other populations.
2, The data collected in this study is valid ody to the extent that the subjects
answered al1 questions honestiy.
1.
Delimitations
1. The ages of the participants were 17 to 45 years.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The concepts of overtraining and buniout are not new. However, it has only been
recentiy that these concerns have corne into research focus in athletics- This is especially
tnie with regards to the concept of bumout (Gould, 1996). It is very common to hear
athletes cornplain that they are getting tired of their sport, both physicaily and mentally.
The demands of the cornpetitive world have increased such that athletes are
required to treat their sport as one would treat a full time job. There is much pressure on
them to achieve and maintain success in performance. In order to achieve this, athletes
are required to increase the duration and intensity of their workouts, which rneans an
increase in training stress. Coaches and athletes often believe that more is better when it
cornes to the intensity and duration of training. An increase in training is not necessarily
a positive thing, however, as it c m lead to a decrease in performance (McCann, 1995).
An increased training volume, to which there is negative adaptation, can lead to many
psychologicd and physiological consequences, referred to collectively as overtraining
and burnout (McCann, 1995).
Overtrainhg
Overtraining c m be defined as a maladaptive response to training stress due to
training at high levels without adequate recovery tirne between training sessions
(McCann, 1995). Although this is accepted as the general concept of overtraining, there
is no uniform definition descnbing the condition (Hooper, Traeger-MacKUinon, Howard,
Gordon & Bachrnann, 1995).
Overtraining is a potential problem for today's athletes for a number of reasons:
one being that athletes have a fear of being undertrahed (McCann, 1995). Another is the
lack of empiricd data on which coaches and athletes c m rely to better understand the
overtraining phenornenon. There iskso a problem in that individual ciifferences in
athietes and their responses to training make it very difficult for a coach to design a
training program that will suit the needs of everyone in a group or on a team. The signs
and symptoms of overtraining are also not consistent. What is known of overtrainïng is
based largely on anecdotal support or clinicd studies with poor scientific control and
unknown generalizability. Few attempts have been made to quanti& the factors that are
Table 1
Potential Markers for Staleness Durinc Overtrainixip
Marker
Siqns
R e s t i n g ER
T-wave o f ECG
Blood L a c t a t e
V 0 2 Peak
Body Weight
Change
?
o r &?
S t r e n q t h o f Evidence
AI
B
abnormal
T or -1?
-1
L
Symptoms
Mood D i s t u r b a n c e
( POMS )
Apatlhy
Depression
A:
B:
C:
D:
a n e c d o t a l support, g e n e r a l i z a b i i t y unknown
C l i n i c a l s t u d i e s w i t h poor s c i e n t i f i c c o n t r o l , p r e d i c t i v e
v a l i d i t y and g e n e r a l i z a b i l i t y unknown
c o n t r o l l e d , nonrandomized p r o s p e c t i v e s t u d i e s , cause and effect
not established
e x p e r i r n e n t a l s u p p o r t , p r e d i c t i v e v a l i d i t y and g e n e x a l i z a b i l i t y
must b e d e t e r m i n e d by r e p l i c a t i o n
(Dishman, 1995)
assumed to indicate overtraining (Dishman, 1995, Hooper et al., 1995)- Dishman ( 1995)
illustrates these facts in the present table: The direction of changes in bodily h c t i o n s
with overtraining found in one report do not always agree with those fomd in others.
Note that Dishman (1995) uses staleness here synonymously with bumout.
The evidence shown is insufficient to warrant conclusions regarding the signs and
symptoms of either overtraining or bumout. AU but one of the results are supported
anecdotally. From this review Dishman (1995) concludes that
the case or meaning of conflicting results cannot be detennined
because of the unstandardized definitions of overtraining and
staleness, the comparison of selected groups of athletes rather
than comparing experimental and contro1conditions, and the
absence of biologically coherent conceptual models for predicting
and explaining the effects reported (p. 253).
Standardized definitions of overtraining and better scientific research in the area wodd
be helpful to coaches and athletes in preventing the phenornenon.
Terms that are used in conjunction with overtraining Ulclude overreaching and
overload training. Overreaching is sometimes described as the short-term version of
overtraining. The symptoms of the isvo are similar, but it is agreed that a much shorter
regeneration period is needed for recovery fiom overreaching. Fry, Morton & Keast
(19 92) define overreaching as "a period in which performance decreases and the athlete
becomes susceptible to minor illnesses and chronic infections" (p. 242). Fry et al. (1992)
aIso state that overreaching is the intentional or unintentionai initiation of short-term
overtraining, the symptoms of which c m be reversed by a longer than normal
regeneration period.
Overload training is a technique whereby athletes train at a higher intensity, or for
longer duration in an attempt to improve their fitness andor ski11 levels. Fry et al. (1992)
define overload training as "the process of stressing the organism at a higher level than
before in order to provide a stimulus for adaptation and supercompensation" (p. 24 1).
Silva (1990) discusses two routes that overload training can take. First, there c m be an
increase in training volume, followed by positive adaptation to that volume, resulting in
improved performance. The other scenario invoIves the sarne increase in training,
followed by a negative adaptation to the workload, resulting in a decrease in
performance. Silva (1990) is quick to rnake clear that the training stress, or increase in
training volume, is not a negative entiq, and should not be viewed as such, since it is a
necessary component of preparation for cornpetitive sports.
Negative adaptation to training stressors include plateaus in training or even a
detraining effect. This occurs when a training stress has been imposed, and a negative
psychophysiological response follows. lnitially this will result in staleness, and if the
training stimulus is maintained or increased, overtraining may be evident, fol10wed
possibly by burnout and withdrawal. For overtraining, burnout, a d o r withdrawal to
occur, the negative response to training stress must happen repeatedly- An athlete does
not become overtrained spontaneously, or afier one negative response to an increased
training load.
Burnout
Overtraining is often a precursor to bumout (Hooper et al., 1995). Silva (1990)
shows burnout as following overtraining in his mode1 of negative adaptation to training
stress. Burnout is defined as a state of mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion
brought on by persistent devotion to a goal, the achievement of which is dramatically
opposed to reality (Freudenberger & Richelson, 1981;Pines, Aronson & KafÏy, 1981;
Maslach, 1982). It has been charactenzed by "working too hard for too long in a highpressure situation" (Maslach, l982), and accompanied by a "progressive loss of idealism,
energy and purpose" (Freudenberger & Richelson, 1981). Sullivan and Nashrnan (1 996)
wrote that professionals who suffered fiom burnout shared common traits of motivation,
hi&-achievement orientation, goal-orientation, and perfectionism.
Most definitions of burnout also emphasize the presence of chronic stressors
(Smith, 1986; Dale & Weinberg, 1990; Silva, 1990). It is the stressors placed on athletes,
and their subsequent interpretations of them, that play a major role in the successfül or
unsuccessfuL coping of athletes (McCann, 1995). Felsten and Wilcox (1993) found that
when athletes were unable to cope with the siresses fiom daily life and their sport
demands, there was a decline in the athletes' performances.
Burnout has been conceptualized as an intricate interaction among a number of
components that produce physical, bel-iaviorai, cognitive, affective, and emotional signs
and symptoms, that is extrernely complex and individual (Smith, 1986). Freudenberger
(1 974) approached the concept by suggesting that bumout revolves around a person's
ability to cope effectively with his or her stressfûi situations in the workplace. He used
the tenn to mean that there was, at some point, a state of physical and emotional
depletion resulting fiom conditions on the job. Farber (1983) stated that burnout can
occur when there are discrepancies between demands placed on an individual, and the
individual's capabilities of meeting those demands.
Dropout is a term heard fiequently in sports, and often used in conjunction, or,
confiised with burnout. Sometimes it is assumed that when a child leaves his or her
selected activity it is because they are 'burned-out', when in reality it could be because
the child wanted to try other things; their fnends were no longer participating; it was
taking up too much t h e , or parental pressure was becoming too great (Gould Hom &
Spreeman, 1983). Schmidt and Stein (199 1) report that dropout occurs when fairly high
outcomes are exceeded by more attractive dternatives, whereas bumout occurs when
there is an increase in stress induced costs (Smith, 1986). This means that someone may
drop out of an activity when they want to try something new, rather than fulfill the high
expectations placed on them in their curent activity. Schmidt and Stein (1991) view this
to mean that there is an increase in costs of tirne, effort, or money with no concornitrnt
increase in rewards.
It has been shown that not only is bumout defined in many ways, but its meaning
is interpreted differently according to the person, and his or her individual situation @ale
& Weinberg, 1990). There are, however, a few common threads that link the various
meanuigs of burnout. They inclirde the following:
a. Exhaustion is present in al1 cases, and c m be either physical, mental, andLor
emotional. Exhaustion here is defined as a loss of concern, energy, interest and trust.
b. This exhaustion causes the individual to begh reacting in a negative way in response
to others.
c. The individual has a change in attitude toward what he or she will accomplish. This
results in feelings of low self-esteem, failure, and depression. In an athlete, a decrease in
performance is visible as a result.
d. This sense of being 'burned-out' is not a reaction to occasional stress, but to chronic
stress which occurs over a long period of tirne.
e. The signs and symptoms of burnout differ greatly fkom individual to individual which
makes it very hard to ident*
for each person.
The symptoms of bumout may include any or ail of the foilowing: a lack of
energy, exhaustion, sleeplessness, depression, tension, irritability, anger, headaches,
decreased performance, the internalization of failure, disillusionment with one's sport, a
loss of confidence, and withdrawal fiom participation (Freudenberger, 1980;
McClenaghan & Rotella, 1984; Henschen, 1986; and Smith, 1986). These symptoms
were observed mostly among addts in the athletic and business worlds, yet Feigley,
(1984) found them to closely parallel symptorns found in athletes as young as ten years of
age. Cohn (1990) fowd further support for the notion that burnout in young athletes
resembles that in older athletes and adults in other occupations, upon discovery that youth
golfers declared similar sources of stress, causes of buniout and physicai reactions to
chronic stress to that seen in a 'burned out' professional wornan golfer.
Models have been created to illustrate bumout as it applies to sport. Three
developed by sport scientists are described here since they pertain best to the present
study. These modeIs include Smith's (1986) Cognitive-Mective Stress Model, Silva's
(1 990) Negative-Training Stress Model, and Coakley7s(1994)Unidimensional Identity
Development and External Control View.
Smith's (1986) Cognitive-Affective Stress Model
Smith's (1986) four-stage, stress-based model of burnout in sport is founded upon
research on burnout in general psychology on the 'helping professions7, such as teaching,
nursing, and social work, and his own cognitive-aective model of stress. The first stage
of this model has the athlete under some kind of demand (i.e. increased training t h e ,
pressure to win, etc.). In the second stage, there is a discrepancy in the perception of
those demands. The athlete cognitively appraises the situation, and perceives it as more
threatening or overwheiming than another athlete might have. In the third stage, if the
athlete has perceived the situation as threatening or overwhelming, a physiological
response occurs (Le. insomnia, anxiety). In the fouah and finai stage, the physiological
response leads to a coping behaviour, whether it be withdrawd fiom the activity,
decreased performance, or interpersonal difficuities. Smith considers his model to be
circula and continuous, where the coping and task behaviour stage goes back to the
situational demand.
Despite the appeal of this mode1 for its simpIe relationships, it has not been used
much in research on burnout in athletes. It does, though, give the reader a fiamework for
understanding the topic.
Silva's (1 990) Neeative Training Stress Mode1
Udike the previous model, dealing primarily with psychological factors, Silva's
(1990) model explains burnout focusing more attention on its physical aspects. His
thinking was such that physical training affects the athlete both psychologically and
physically, and these stresses have both positive and negative consequencess. The
purpose of training is to positively adapt to the stresses irnposed on oneself. However,
too much training, without adequate recovery time, w i l result in a negative adaptation.
Silva (1990) sees this negative adaptation to training stress as moving on a continuum
fiom staleness, where it is defined as "an initial failure of the body's adaptive
rnechanisms to cope with psychophysiological stress," (p. 10)' to overtraining, which he
states is the "detectable psychophysiological malfimctions characterized by easily
observed changes in the athletes' mental orientation and physical performance," (p. IO),
and frnally to burnout, defined as "an exhaustive psychophysiological response exhibited
as a result of frequent, sometimes extreme, but generally ineffective efforts to meet
excessive training and sometimes competitive demands," (p. 11).
As with Smith's (1986) model, Iittle testing has been conducted with this one. It
does, however, provide an appealing look at burnout through a more psychophyso1ogica.I
approach.
Coakiev' s Unidimensional Identitv Develo~mentand Extemai Control Mode1
Both models by S m i t h (1986) and Silva (1990) focus on stress as being the cause
of burnout. Coakiey takes another approach and says that stress is not the cause of
athlete bumout, it is rnerely a symptom. According to Coakley (1992), buniout in
athletes, especially young athletes, is due to the social organization of high performance
sports and the effect it has on the identity and feeling of control of athletes.
Coakley feels that the rigid structure that elite young athletes are required to
follow do not allow for the development of a multifaceted identity. For example, the
time demands of sports does not allow for socialization with peers in non-sport activities-
The athlete's identity becomes focused solely on his or her sport success. This very
narrow identity becomes problematic when injury or a performance failure occurs,
causing stress that can ultimately lead to bumout.
h o t h e r facet o f competitive athletics discussed by Coakley is the organization of
the lives of young auetes. He States that athletes are in situations where the control and
decision making about their lives is lefi in the hands of others, leaving them powerless to
control their daily events, or make decisions regarding their own development (Coakley,
1992).
The Coakley model is an altemate to the stress-based theories, and emphasizes the
social development of young athletes. He includes in his approach recomrnendations for
means of preventing bumouî, and discusses changing the social simcture of the
environment to inteprate the spoa experience differentiy into the athletes' lives. This
mode1 has yet to be empincdly tested, and is based primarily on i n t e ~ e wthe
s author
conducted with young athletes.
Bumout in the Worblace
Most research on bumout has been done in business or work settings. Those
typically studied are in 'people-related work', such as nurses, teachers, social workers,
and police officers (Sullivan & Nashman, 1996). People in these professions have a great
deal of close personal contact and interaction, which is what seems to be the cataiyst in
the development of bumout in the workplace (Cherniss, 1980).
Those suffering fiom bumout in the workplace all seem to display traits of high
motivation, high-achievement and goal orientations, and perfectionism, as mentioned
previously. They also tend to take on more than their share of work, and have unredistic
expectations of what they can accornplish (Sullivan & Nashman, 1996).
Bumout in Coaches
The concept of human seMces and people related work covers many occupations,
including that of a coach. Coaches work closely with others, and have many demands
placed on them. It is known that elite level coaches expenence high and continuous
levels of stress (Sullivan & Nashman, 1996). While most related research focuses on the
athlete, the achievements of the coach c m be just as critical.
The coach often fblfills rnany roles, including psychologist, disciplinarian, public
relations expert, and in some cases, legal guardian, as well as being the leader of his or
her group (Sullivan & Nashman, 1996). This places great demands on one's energy,
emotions, and time, and if unable to cope wiîh the requirements, can lead to physical,
mental, and emotional exhaustion. There is some evidence that there is a higher level of
burnout in femaie than male coaches (Caccese & Mayerberger, 2984). There is limited
anecdotai evidence suggesting also that girl athietes are more likely than boys to burnout
(Feigley, 1984).
Bumout in Athietes
Burnout in sports is not a new phenomenon. Many athletes fmd it necessary to
treat their activity as full-time work in order to be cornpetitive. This means training
loads are increased, both in frequency and duration, thus placing more physical and
psychofogical demands on the athlete. As training thne increases, the chance to recover
from these stressors decreases.
It has been hypothesized that individual sports provide enWonments where there
is a greater Iikelihood of overtraining, and eventual burnout than do team activities
(Smith, 1986). This is suggested with the idea that individual sports lack the social
support structure of teams. It has also been further suggested that sports such as tennis,
figure skating, and gymnastics may be the sports where the potential for burnout is
greatest (Smith, 1986). In each of these sports, training and cornpetition usually begin at
a very early age. By the lime the athIete reaches the age of 14, he/she could have been
participating in the activity for a decade. Each of these sports require an unusually high
amount of training which is generally very repetitious in nature (Smith, 1986;Scanlan et
al., 1989; Gould et al., 1996). Figure skaters cornpethg at the highest levels rnay train
more than five hours daily, six days a week, for 50 weeks of the year (Scanlan et al.,
1989).
Coping
The notion that one's ability to cope effectively with stressors reduces one's
vulnerability to burnout has been a theme throughout this chapter. Coping has long been
recognized as the crucial mediating factor in managing stress in athletics (Smith, 1980;
Crocker, 1992). It can be defmed as "constantly changing cognitive and behavioural
efforts t o manage specific extemal and internai demands that are appraised as taxing or
exceeding the resources of the person" (Lazamz & Foikman, 1981, p. 141). Coping
responses are, therefore the strategies that mediate between perceived stressfùl events,
and performance. It has been recognized that limited coping skills, or an absence of
those skills, is a factor contributing to poor sport performance and sport dissatisfaction
(Crocker, 1992; Gould et. al, 1993; Crocker & Graham,1995; Smith et.a.1, 1995; Anshel,
Williams & Hodge, 1997).
The starting point for much of the research on coping strategies began with
L a z m s in 1966. Lazarus stated that stress consists of three processes: primary appraisal
is the process of perceiving a threat to oneself; secondary appraisal is the process of
deterrnining a potential response to the threat; and coping is the process of carrying out
that response.
Lazanis emphasized that these events, although easily described as in a linear
sequence, do not occur in that manner. He suggested that the outcome of one process
may affect the next process chosen. For example, if an adequate coping strategy is
readily available, the stress, or situation one is experiencing may be interpreted as less
threatening than if an appropriate strategy is not in the individual's repetoire. If a coping
response is less effective than originaily expected, the Ievel of threat may change, or the
coping strategy being used may be reassessed. These three processes then, become more
of a cyclicd pattern.
Lazarus and his colleagues developed an inventory cailed the Ways of Coping
Scaie, (Folkman &Lazanis, 1980, 1985) to study the coping process. This inventory
consists of statements that illustrate a coping thought or action one may engage in when
under stress. Respondents indicate whether they use any of these responses in a given
stressfùl situation by mswering yes or no, or giving a rating on a multipoint scale.
The Ways of Coping Scale identifies two different m e s of coping strategies.
One, problern-focus coping, is aimed at problem solving, or doing sornething to change
the source of the stress (Carver et. al, 1989). The other, emotional-focused coping, looks
at reducing or managing the emotional distress associated, or triggered by the situation
(Carver et. al, 1989). Most stressors elicit both types of coping strategies. Problemfocused coping is most prevalent when people feeI something constructive cm be done.
Emotion-focused coping predominates when one feels that the stressor is something that
must be endured (Foikman & L a z m s , 1980). Carver et. al (1 989) take this notion M e r
and note that "the pattern of coping responses a given stressor elicits fiom a given person
is determined by many variables.. .this characterization is generally valid, but it is
important to remain aware of this complexity" (p. 271).
Researchers soon redized that two dimensions were inadequate to describe the
complexities of coping (Carver et. dl, 1989; Crocker, 1992; Crocker & Graham, 1995).
To alleviate this problem, Folkman & Lazarus (1985) developed the Ways of Coping
CheckList (WCC). The WCC had a major impact on coping research in sport (Carver et.
al, 1989; Madden et. al, 1990; Crocker, 1992). Because of concerns regarding the WCC,
a further refinement labeled the COPE Inventory was developed by Canrer, Scheier and
Weintraub (1989). This inventory was completed by 978 undergraduates fiom the
University of Miami. Their responses were subjected to factor analysis, which showed
twelve factors with eigen values greater than one. The intemal consistency of the COPE
sub-scales were computed in the form of Cronbach alpha coefficients. Values ranged
fiom -45 to -92, with an average of -71across the 13 sub-scales. Test-retest reliability of
the COPE scale as a whole suggested that the self-reports of coping tendencies are
relatively stable (r=.62).
.
The creators of the COPE scale intended it to be used both to assess coping
dispositions, and also to measure coping strategies in specific stressfiil situations (Carver
et al., 1989). To this end, Carver et al. tested the COPE scale with subjects who were
instructed to complete the inventory describing how they dealt with an actual stressful
event in their lives. In this study 156 undergraduate students completed the scale.
Despite the relatively small sample size, an exploratory factor analysis of the obtained
data was computed. The results were very simdar to those found in Carver et al.'s first
study, except that al1 sub-scale alphas tended to be higher, suggesting that people's
ratings may have greater intemal consistency when thinking of specific behavioural
situations rather than when atternpting to describe general tendencies (Carver et al.,
1989).
The assurnption underlying the use of the COPE scale is that the more coping
strategies one has developed, or uses effectively, the iess threatened they will be by
threatening situations. This notion is assurned to apply to sports as well as other
situations. Athletes are bombarded with stressors daily (Le. training stress, pressure fiom
parentdcoaches, upcorning competitions, etc.). If they deal with these stressors
effectively, they reduce the possibility of burning out. Coping has been recognized as the
most important media-
factor in stress relationships in sport (Crocker, 1992). Coping
responses are strategies used to mediate between perceived stressful events and outcornes
(negative and positive emotions, and performance).
Feigley (1984) has hypothesized that younger athletes will not have the coping
skills to effectively deal with stressors. Madden, Kirkby & McDonald (1989) found that
age was a factor in coping strategies of middle distance runners. They discovered that
older m e r s were better able to cope with a race situation through strategic knowledge
they had gained over t h e . An athlete requires a knowledge of race strategies in order to
use certain types of coping. For exarnpIe, a younger, inexperienced m e r cannot focus
on what is required to perform well, if they don't already know what that requirement is
in a given cornpetitive situation. Older athletes may have gained more knowledge of the
application of specific coping strategies than younger athletes, and so be better able to
cope (Madden et ai., 1989). This interpretation is consistent with the finding that athletes
at higher levels of competition are older, and use more effective coping strategies than
athletes at lower levels of competition (Madden et al., 1989). Feigley (1984) suggests
that older, more experienced peers be used as role models to assist in areas where
expenence is an asset; Le. coping strategies.
It has been suggested that men and women differ in their coping strategies
(Anshel, Williams & Hodge, 1997). Further, it has been suggested women use social
support more than do men (Carver et al., 1989; Ptacek, Smith & Zanas, 1992; Crocker &
Graham, 1995). This is consistent with a socialkation mode1 claiming that sex role
.
stereo-types and role expectations predispose men and women to respond differently
(Ptacek et al., 1992). Women have typically been socialized to use emotion-focused
coping, and in doing so, to seek social support, while men have been taught to use
probkm-focused coping (Crocker & Graham, 1995)Summarv
Burnout has become a redity among today's elite athletes, even in child athietes.
One's ability to cope with the stressors that may lead to burnout could prevent just that
from happening.
There are many stressors that contribute to one's potential to burnout, a variety of
signs and symptoms of if as well as many di-fferent coping techniques to deal with the
stressors. This makes for a very broad, sometimes vague area of study. This literature
review has examined overtraining, burnout and three theories on the subject, and a brief
history on the evoiution of coping and its application to sport.
CHAPTER I
D
METHODS AND PROCEDURES
The purpose of this study was to examine potentials for bumout among team and
individual, male and femaie athietes, and to determine the extent to which these
populations use dBerent coping strategies. University and other elite level atidetes
served as subjects: A questionnaire was administered to evaluate the potential for
burnout, and another to assess the coping strategies of these athletes.
Subiects
The subjects of the present study were ail varsis. athletes of McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec, or members of the Canadian National Judo Team living and training
in Montreal. They included 83 men and 29 women in team sports, and 33 men and 28
women in individuai sports. The athletes ranged in age fiom 17 to 45 years. There were
116 men participating in the study compared with 57 wornen. Specifically, varsity
athletes included seventeen male hockey players ranging in age from 20 to 27, twentyone men in track and cross-country fiom 19 to 28, thirteen women in track and crosscountry fiom 18 to 24, sixteen male basketball players f?om 18 to 22, fourteen female
basketball players frorn 17 to 24, twelve male soccer players, 20 to 23, fifteen female
soccer players,l8 to 25, thirty-eight football players fiom 19 to 23, thirteen women figure
skaters, 19 to 26, three swimmers fiom 20 to 22, one male rower, 20, one female rower,
20, one male rugby player, 21,7 judo men, aged 21 to 45, and one 18 year old female
judo athlete. M a y of these athletes live away from their families and their home
communities.
Athlete Background
The demographic and background information gathered fkom each athlete was
their: age, gender, age they began competing, highest competitive level achieved in their
sport, and their rating of the importance of their sport in their lives. Their choices of
competitive levels were varsity, provincial, national and international. They were asked
to rate the importance of their sport to themselves on a seven point Likert scale fiom 1 to
7 with key words fiom; not very important, somewhat important, very important to most
important.
The instruments used in this study were chosen for their ability to predict and
assess burnout, and their potential for assessing the ability to cope with the stressors
understood to Iead to burnout. Because of the negative connotation associated with the
word bumout, it was avoided whenever possible in the questionnaires. The totaI time to
complete the background information, and dl questionnaires was approximately 15
minutes.
Eades Athletic Burnout Inventory
The participants' Ievel of burnout was assessed using the Eades Athletic Burnout
Inventory (EABI) (Eades, 1991). The questions are somewhat broad, refemng to athletic
involvement, rather than S
p a specific
involvement. The EABI is a %-item self-report
inventory that has been designed as a general burnout in sport inventory, based upon
earlier measures of this construct. Respondents answer on a 7-point Likert scale
identimg the fkequency they experience various feelings and cognitions regarding their
sport participation (i.e. 1 feel stressed about rny sport participation; 0- never; Z -a few
times this year or less; 2-once a month or less; 3-a few times a month; 4-once a week; 5-a
few times this week; 6- every day). A minimum score of O, to a maximum score of 2 16
on bumout is possible. The inventory has six subscales the scores fiom which rnay be
used if the subject is found to be bumed out. They may help to detennine more
specifically the nature of the problem(s) causing the burnout.
The EABI was developed through the use of four pilot studies. Its third and &al
version was adrninistered to 98 male, and 85 female NCAA Division 1 athietes,
representing 10 sports. Factor analysis of the item scores produced six factors with 36
items in total. The six subscale intemal consistencies ranged fiom -57 to .89. Data that
confirrned the hypotheses about reIationships between various dimensions of the sport
participation experience (Le. years of participation, and number of injuries suffered) and
EABI scores demonstrated its validity m e r . Multiple regression analyses indicated
several factors to be indicative of athlete burnout, including high levels of stress due to
significant others, discrepancies in social support, and autocratic behaviour of a coach or
parent. Overall, the EABI was found to be a good measure of athlete bumout (Gould et
al., 1996). In another study by Gould and colleagues, 127 was found to be the mean'
score of athletes who had been identified as withdrawing fiom their sport due to burnout
(Gould, et al., 1994; Udry et al., 1997).
COPE hventorv
The participant's use of coping strategies was assessed with the Cope hventory
developed by Carver, Scheier & Weuitraub (1989). The Cope Scale is a 52 item
inventory in 13 sub-scales designed to assess different approaches to coping. The hrst
approach rneasures aspects of problem focused coping (active coping, planning,
suppression of cornpeting activities, restrain coping, and the seeking of instrumental
social support). The second approach looks at emotion focused coping (seeking of
exnotional social support, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, denial, tuniing to
religion), and the third focuses on techniques that are suggested to be less useful when
dealing with stress (focus on and venting of emotions, behavioural disengagement,
mental disengagement), Respondents answer on a 4-point Likert scale identifiring the
Eequency they employ a specific technique (Le. 1sleep more than usual; 1-didn't do a
lot; 2-did a Iittle bit; 3-did a medium arnount; 4-did a lot). A minimum score of 52, to a
maximum score of 208 is possible. The total inventory score may be used to determine
general coping skills, and/or the score of specific subscales, consisting of four items each,
may be used to get a more detailed view of athletes' coping skills. The developrnent of
the COPE inventory is discussed m e r in Chapter 2.
Data Collection
The subjects of this study were athletes competing in the McGill University
varsiv system, and the Canadian National Judo Team. Coaches of prospective groups
were approached to determine if they would support data collection from their athletes.
With the support of the coach, club president, or themselves, each athlete was given a
package including an informed consent form, background information form, and two
questionnaires. More specifically, team coaches were asked to assist in the collection of
data Eom their athletes. Individual athletes were contacted either directly, through their
coach, or via their club's president. This may have resulted in more varied responses of
individual than team athletes, as it was a personal decision whether or not to complete the
questionnaires. The informed consent form was signed by each athlete, or by the
parent/guardian of the few athletes under 18 years of age. AU athletes completed the
of this researcher. Data
questionnaires with their respective teams under the s u p e ~ s i o n
was collected fiom February to April of 1998, and September of the same year. Data was
gathered either immediately following the distribution of materiais, or returned within a
few days of distribution to the researcher's mail box at McGiU University. Athletes were
assured of the anonymity of their responses. (See appendices for examples of al1
materials.)
Treatment of Data
The responses were initially sorted according to sport. Within each sport the
foilowing variables were extracted: gender; age; the age the athletes began competing in
their activity; their highest level of competition; the level of importance of their activity
in their lives; EABI total score; COPE total score; and the score of each COPE subscaie.
Those indicating their highest level of competition as being at the national or
international levels were identified as at the high cornpetitive level, and those showing
provincial or varsity as their level of competition were rated as at the iower cornpetitive
Ievel. Those rating the Ievel of importance of their sport to themselves as 1 to 4 were
identified as athletes to whom their spoa was of Iess importance than to those rating their
sport fiom 5 to 7 who were identified as seeing their spoa as more important.
The Eades AlMetic Bumout Inventory score was used as a total score, the
maximum achievable being 2 16, minimum being zero. The COPE scale was used to
provide both a total score, and two selected sub-scale scores. The two social support subscales, emotional and instrumental social support, were chosen for their potential to
clarie specific coping strategies used. The maximum total score possible was 208, and
the highest sub-scale score was 16. The lowest result possible for the total scale was 52,
and for the sub-scales was 4. Al1 scores for each individual were entered into a data base
to be examined in order to test the study's hypotheses.
Data Analvsis
The following analyses were carried out in an atternpt to achieve the purpose of
the study and to test the various hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1: To test if individud sport athletes have higher bumout scores than
team athletes, a t-test was used.
Hypothesis 2: To determine if a relationship existed between the length of sport
involvement and b m o u t scores, a regession was used.
Hypothesis 3 : To ver@ if more competitive athletes would have higher burnout
scores than less cornpetitive athletes, they were analyzed using a t-test. More cornpetitive
athletes being national or international cornpetitors, less competitive athletes being
provincial or varsity athletes.
Hypothesis 4: To test if athletes, team or individual, who feel their sport has a
high level of importance in their lives have higher burnout scores than those who feel
their spoa has a lower level of importance in their lives, the difference between their
means was tested for significance with an ANOVA. A post-hoc analysis of paired t-tests
was used to determine where the differences were.
Hypothesis 5: To determine if fernales, in general, have bigher burnout scores
than males, they were analyzed using a t-test.
Hypothesis 6: To v e r i e if team athletes use different coping strategies than
individual sport participants, a t-test was employed.
Hypothesis 7: To determine if females have a higher COPE total score than
males, the diftèrence between their means was tested for significance by means of a ttest.
Hypothesis 8: To test if females use social support as a coping strategy more
fiequently than males, a t-test was employed-
CHAPTER IV
RESULTS
This study proposed to examine potentials for buniout among team and
individual, male and female athletes, and to determine if these groups used different
coping strategies, This chapter provides the results of the various analyses done in this
study beginning with those done on burnout and then those exarnining coping strategies
in relation to bumout scores.
Descriptive Data of the Samples of Subiects
Table 2 with its descriptive data, was inciuded to ùidicate the number of
respondents fiom each sport, the average ages they began their activities, the level of
importance their sport has in their lives, and their mean scores on the Eades Athletic
Buniout Inventory (EAEH), and COPE Lnventory. Standard deviations on each variable
are als'o provided. Male and female data is separated, as are team and individual sport
responses. The considerable variation in size of the sample of athietes fiom the different
activities should be noted and kept in mind when examining the means of the other
variables such as the age at which they began their sports. There is significant variability
in the average age at which various sports were begun according to this data, but one, or a
small number of athletes fiom an activity may not necessarily be representative of those
in the sport. Their scores on other variables should be viewed accordingly.
The average rated level of importance of their sport to these athletes does not
seem to vary greatly Erom one activity to another. There appears considerable variability
fiom sport to sport on EABI and COPE scores, but no pattern is apparent when
comparing team to individual sport athietes' responses.
Table 2
Means and Standard Deviations bv Tme of Suort of Males and
Females on ail Measures
Sport
Aqe Began
M
(sd)
N
Importance
M
( sd)
EABI
M
( sd)
COPE
M
isd)
Football
Hockey
Rowing
Rugby
Soccer
85
30
12.5 1 1 - 1
(5.0) (1.6)
Figure Skating
13
9.2
(2.4)
Total
5.0
5.1
7 6 - 1 66.0 124.4 119.9
( 0 - 5 ) ( - 1 ) (14.6)(26.3)(12.7)(18.2)
INDIVIDUAL
Judo
7
Sw i m r n i n g
3
1
8.5
(5.0)
8.0
7 .3
(2.0)
S. O
(1.3)
5.3
(1.6)
6-0
74.7 152.0
(19.7)
113.6
(25.2)
118.3 133.0
(30.2)
5.7
(1.2)
Track /
21
X-Country
13
13.4 15.5
(3.3) (5.3)
5.3
5.2
(-6) (-8)
Total
27
9.7 10.9
(3.2) (4.1)
5.4
(-3)
31
71.2
(32.3)
7 7 - 7 90.5
114.7 128.4
(13.3) (16.8) (22-2)(17.5)
5.4
75.9 86.0 117.6 124.1
( - 5 ) (18.8) (29.6) (20.2) (15.7)
For team sports, 85 men and 30 women's data was obtained. The average scores
for males and females were as follows: age began competing: 12.5 vs. 1 1.1 ;importance
of the sport intheir lives: 5.0 vs. 5.1; total EABI score: 76.1 vs. 66.0; and total Cope
score: 124.4 vs. 119.9. Note the single responses for rowing, both male and female, and
for rugby. Particularly in men's rowing and rugby, note that the age at which they began
appears to be higher than most other team respondents.
T m - o n e male, and 27 femde individual athletes responded. Their average
responses were: age began competing: 9.7 vs. 10.9; level of importance of the sport: 5.4
vs. 5.4; total EABI score: 75.9 vs. 86.0;and total Cope score: 117.6 vs. 134.1. Here it is
important to note the lone female judo participant. She appears to have three scores
higher than average. These are: the response for importance of the sport, total EABI
score, and total COPE score- These should be taken into account when considering the
individual female scores, especially with the relatively small total N for this population.
Bumout Score Anaivses
In an effort to compare burnout potential and coping abilities between individual
and team sport athletes, their average scores were tested for differences using
independent T-tests. The results are shown in TabIe 3. On the EABI team athletes
averaged 72.4, and the individual sport athletes had a mean score of 80.6. A difference
was found between them to -05 level of significance. On the COPE Inventory, team
athletes had a mean score of 121.3, while the individual athletes averaged 120.7. No
signifïcant difference was found between them.
Table 3
Means and Indevendent T-test Results of Bumout and Total Coping Scores of
Team and Individual Sport Athletes
EILBI
Mean
N
COPE
Mean
(sd)
(sd)
Team
Individual
In an attempt to examine the relationship between the length of sport involvement
and burnout scores, a linear regression was computed. An inverse relationship was
predicted. That is, the longer one has competed, the lower was expected to be the
bumout score. This was not found to be the case. See Table 4.
Table 4
Linear Regression Comparing L e n d of Sport Involvement, and B m o u t Score
E f fect
Constant
Length of Sport
Involvement
Source
Regression
Residual
Coefficient
Std. Error
68.5
-6
Sun of Squares
1100.5
114,143.4
Std. Coef Tolerance
5.5
-4
df
1
171
Anova
Mean Square
1105 - 5
661.1
F
1.7
P
.2
t
P
A cornparison of more competitive (national and international competitors) and
less competitive (varsity and provincial) athletes' bumout scores was made using an
independent T-test. The results are shown in TabIe 5 . A significant difference was found
between the less competitive and more competitive athletes (team or individual),
however, the N for both groups shodd be noted. There were considerably more subjects
in the less competitive category (147) than in the more competitive grouping (25). The
more competitive athletes had a signïficantiy higher mean bumout score of 75.3,
compared to that of 70.6 of the less competitive athletes. This gave a significant p-value
of -01.
Table 5
Means and Independent T-test Results of Burnout Scores of More Competitive
and Less Competitive Athletes
EABI
L e s s Competitive
More Cornpetitive
P-Value
147
25
(F=6.49)
70.6
(25. O)
75.3
.O 1
(35.9)
Cornparison of Burnout Scores of Team and Individual Sport Participants Rating; Their
Sports at Various Levels of Importance to Them
It appem in Table 6 as if athletes in individual sports who rate their sport as
important to them have higher bumout scores than the other athletes. It also appears that
those in team sports who rate their S
p a
as very important have iower bumout scores
than any other group. Individual sport athletes as a whole have higher bumout scores
(1~80.6)
than do team athletes (m=72.4). A two-by-two Anova verified the ciifferences
between team and individual sport ahletes @= -01) and showed an interaction between
the nature of the participants' sports and their rating of its importance to them. As a post-
hoc analysis, paired T-tests found significant dserences between High/Tearn and
Low/Team @=.005), and High/Team and High/Individual scores. @=.O
1). These t-tests
automatically adjusted the N's to be equd within each group.
Table 6
Mean Burnout Scores bv Level of Their Sports' Importance for Team and
Individual Sport Athietes
Level of Importance of Their Sport to Them
High
Low
Total
Nature o f
Sport
--
-
--
-
-
Individual
m= 84.9
m=77 8
Total
m=70. 9
m= 77.8
-
m= 80.6
Table 7
ANOVA for the effect of Tearn versus individual Sport Participation, and Level
of Importance of the Activitv on Burnout.
Source
Sum of Squares
Importance
Team/lnd.
Importance*Tearn/
Individual
441.7
4212.6
4089.3
df
Mean Square
F
P
COPE Score Analyses
The constnict of Social Support has been broken down into two areas in the
COPE scale. These areas are Emotional Social Support, and Instrumental Social Support.
Emotional Social Support has been Iabeled as the more emotion based coping strategy,
whereby one talks to others to gain support and a willing ear. Instrumentai Social
Support is more of a problem solving based coping strategy, where in, one also seeks out
others, but in an attempt to learn of how sunilar situations were dealt with, and what
relevant information may be gained.
In an effort to compare the use of Emotional Social Support and Instrumental
Social Support between team and individual athletes, their average scores were compared
using independent T-tests. The results in Table 8 show that team athletes scored higher
on Emotional Social Support than Individual athletes (10.5 compared with 10.2
respectively). This was significant at the -03level of confidence. There was no
difference between tearn and individual sport participants in regards to Instrumental
Social Support. Team athletes scored an average of 10.0 and individual athletes, an
average of 9.7. Note the total N of team participants, and that of individual athletesTable 8
Means and Independent T-test Results of Emotional and Instrumental Social
t
Support of Team and Individual S ~ o rAthletes
N
Team
Individual
P-Value
115
58
S o c i a l Support
Emotional
Instrumental
Mean
(sd)
Mean
(sd)
10.5
10.2
(F=5.09)
(3.4)
(4.1)
.O3
10.0
9.7
(F=.04)
(3.4)
(3.5)
-85
ReIationshi~Between Burnout and C o ~ i n Abilities
g
The relationship between one's potentiai to burnout, and one's corresponding
coping abilities seems to be an important one. The more coping strategies one
successfûlly employs, the less iikely they are to burnout. This means that, if an athlete
successfidiy uses one, or a variety of coping strategies, they are more Iikely to be able to
handle their stressors, and dtimately avoid burnout.
Male and Female athletes were compared on a variety of scores as seen in Table
9. Their average scores on the EABI, COPE, and two Social Support coping strategies
(Emotional S.S. and Instrumental S.S.) were compared, using independent T-tests. Note
that there were 116 male respondents, and only 57 fernales. The low N of the female
athletes may mean these findings are not entirely representative of this population. None
of the differences are signincant, although it appears that the female athletes have higher
average scores than the male athletes for each variable tested.
Table 9
Means and Independent T-tests Results Comparing Male and Female Athletes on
Burnout, COPE. and Social S u p ~ o rCoping.
t
Strategies.
N
Males
Mean
(sd)
N
Females
Mean
(sd)
COPE
Emotional S. S
-
Instrumental S . S .
9.8
116
P-Value
=
Il6
!?-Value
= .36
(3-5)
57
11.5
(3.6)
(3-6)
57
10.4
(3.4)
-88
9.6
COPE Intemal Consistencies
A fmal table of the intemal consistency of the COPE subscales dlows a visual
cornparison of those found in this study with those of the scales' creators, Carver,
Scheier, and Weintraub (1989). The obtained subscale intemal consistencies are
essentially in agreement with those of Carver et al.'s findings. Ln fact, in most cases they
seem strikingly similar-
Table 10
Interna1 Consistency for the COPE Scale Subscales of the Present Studv and
Those of C m e r et al.
Subscale
a - value
Carver et al.'s a
A c t i v e Coping
-56
.62
Planning
-82
-80
S u p p r e s s i o n of
competing a c t i v i t i e s
Restraint
-66
Social Support
(instrumental)
S o c i a l Support
(emoïional)
P o s i t i v e Reinterpretation
-82
Accept a n c e
.62
.65
Religion
.90
.92
B e h a v i o u r a l Disengagement
-62
-63
Ment al Disengagement
.45
.45
-59
-85
-66
Focus on and
Vent ing
Denial
-
value
CHAE'TER V
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to determine if team and individual sport, male and
femde athletes, have different potentials for bumout, and to examine if these populations
use different coping strategies. In this chapter, the eight hypotheses of the study are
discussed in relation to the results obtained.
Bumout and Wavs Bumout Varies
As discussed previously, burnout appears to have potentiai to occur in some
populations more than others (Gould et al., 1996). It was hypothesized in this study that
scores on the Eades Athietic Bumout Inventory would be highest in the following
populations: individual sport athletes, fernales, athletes who began compeiing at an eariy
age, those who compete at a high level, and those who rated their sport as having a high
Ievel of importance in their lives. The h d i n g s of this study in relation to these
hypotheses are discussed in this section.
Team and Individual Sport Athletes
The hypothesis that individud sport athletes would have higher buniout scores
than team athletes was given support by the results of this study. This was expected to be
the case because: of the lack of a partner or teammate with whom to share the spotlight or
the blame; individual sport athletes often begin their sports at a younger age then do tearn
athletes (Nash, 1987); training is often more time consurning in relation to competing
time; and expectations of parents and coaches fall on only one set of shoulders. As a
whole, the individud sport athietes had higher EABI scores (80.6) than did the tearn sport
athletes (72.4).
The different group sizes may have had an effect on the results, since there were
almost twice as many team athletes as there were individual athletes (115 vs. 58). This
finding agrees with previous studies, where individual sport athietes had a higher overall
bumout score than team athletes (Gould et al., 1996)- It should be noted again, as it was
previously, that there is a potential outlier in individual female atbletes. Her score of 152
was considerably greater than the other individuai female sport athletes (m=7 1.2 and
m=90.5).
Reasons this data conformed to the fkdings of previous studies may be as
follows, The individuai sport participants may be lacking the social structure that the
team sport athletes enjoy. They may especiaüy be lacking in social support which has
been found to be a facilitator in preventing buniout (Madden, Kirkby & McDonald,
1989). Most of the athletes in this study, with the exception of the judo athletes, compete
at the varsity Ievel for the majority of their time. This means they must juggle the
responsibilities of school and their sport; and they rnay be living away fkom home for the
first tirne. The training season of competitive swimmers and track and field, or crosscountry athletes is alrnost year round. The varsity athletes at McGilI in these events train
almost daily, and maintain this regime most months of the year. The training becomes
very repetitious in nature in al1 the individual sports highlighted in this study, as skills are
being honed at this Ievel, not l e m e d (Feigley, 1984). This differs from most of the team
sport athletes because their training season is shorter, and they are typically not only
honing their skills, but learning plays, strategies, and often learning to work with new
teammates.
It was concluded that individual sport athletes are more likely to experience
bumout than team sport athletes. Factors that may contribute to this include the lack of a
partner or teammates to share the gloryhIame; their beginning to compete at a young age;
year around training seasons; and hi& expectations fiom peers. This fincling is in
agreement with the findings of previous studies.
Length of S ~ o rInvolvement
t
Our second hypothesis stated that burnout scores wodd vary with the Iength of
sport involvement. It was believed that the longer one had been involved in their sport,
the lower their score on the EABI would be (Nash, 1987). Our analysis found no
relationship between the number of years athletes have been competing, and their burnout
scores. The average age of the subjects was 2 1.1 years with the minimum being 17, and
the maximum 45 years. The average age the participants began their respective sports
ranged fkom 6.2 to 19 years.
The relationship expected was not found. This may have been for the following
reasons: although most of the athletes in this study seemed to have begun their
competitive careers at a young age in their respective sports, many were probably
experiencing significant changes in their lives. Their EABI scores could be a reflection
of this change. Many were possibly new to the university, away f?om home for the f i s t
time, in a new environment of friends, working with a new coach, training and competing
with new teammates, and perhaps dealing with crucial exarns during a competitive
season. The majority of the participants also stated that varsity play was the highest level
of competition they had achieved. This means that although they had begun their sports
at a young age, they had reached the most competitive level in their sport at the same
tÏme as finding themselves in new environment.
To s u m m a . e , no relationship was found between EABI scores and the length of
tirne our athletes had been involved in their sports. The fact that the major*
of
participants in the study were experiencing significmt life changes may have had an
afEect on the results obtâined.
Level of Cornpetition
More competitive athletes (team or individual) were predicted to have higher
EABI scores than their less competitive counterparts, according to the third hypothesis.
This was found to be the case. Varsity and provincial level sport participants, classified
as less competitive athletes, had a mean bumout score of 70.6, while national and
international players, classi.fied as more competitive athletes, scored 75.3. This
difference, significant at the .O 1 level, is in agreement with findings by Feigley (1 984),
who suggested that high level athletes were more likeIy to bumout of their sports than
recreational or Iow level athietes. Gould et al. (1996) also found the tennis players who
played up in age divisions because of their supenor ski11 level were more likely to
burnout than those who remained in their proper divisions. An athlete who is more
competitive is more likely to have a higher score on the EABI because they most likely
train for more hours, compete more often, and have higher expectations placed on thern
by themselves and others. An aSilete who is less competitive, would, in al1 probability,
not have these stressors to the same extent.
In conclusion, it was found that athletes (tearn or individual) who competed at the
national and international levels had higher EABI scores than those athletes who
competed at the varsity o r provincial levels. It would appear that an athiete who
cornpetes at a higher cornpetitive level has stressors on him or herseifthat contribute to a
greater potential for burnout.
Level of Im~ortance
Another variable which has been found to be a cause of burnout in athletes, is the
level of importance they place on their sport. It has been suggested that the more
importance they place on their sport, the more potential they have to burnout (Feigley.
1984). The level of importance our respondents placed on their sports ranged fiom an
average of 5.0 to 5.4. On a Likert scale fiom 1to 7, these scores seem to indicate that the
sport indeed has importance, but does not appear to be the most important thing in their
lives.
Hypothesis 4 stated that an athlete who rated the leveI of importance of their sport
high, would have a higher score on the EABI, than those who rated their sport with a
lower level of importance. Our results indicate that by-and-large, our athletes' ratings of
importance of their sport did not make a difference in their burnout scores (Table 6 , page
40). Hotvever, individual athletes who rated their sport with a high level of importance
got sign5cantly higher burnout scores than tearn athletes with a similar importance
rating Also, team athletes who rated their sport with a low level of importance (m=77.6)
had a significantly higher EABI mean result than team athletes who rated their sport
importance higher (m=63.5). This was not an expected result. In general, it was believed
that an athlete who feels their sport is very important in their life places more stress on
themselves to succeed in the activity, and therefore was more prone to bumout compared
wïth one who does not feel their sport is very important. The reasons for the lack of a
sigdïcant main effect here and support for an opposite effect among team athletes is not
apparent In this sampIe of team sport participants, perhaps other H e stressors had
greater weight, therefore sport participation was not as important.
Overall support was not found for an effect of players' ratings of importance of
their sport on the* proneness to bumout. In fact, among team athietes there is evidence
for the suggestion of the opposite effect.
Gender DiEerences
In this study an inconsistency with previous findings was obtauied on gender
differences in bumout (Gould et al,, 1996). Overail, there was not a signifkant
difference found between males and females on their buniout scores. The overall score
for men was 72.2, while women scored 71S. Gould et al. (1996) found that females had
significantly higher EABI scores than males. Feigley (1984) and Nash (1987) also
suggested that women are more prone to bunzout than men.
The present result may have occurred because of minimal representatïon of
females in the study. Female response accounted for only 33% of the total N. This rnay
also have occurred since sIightly more female respondents were involved in tearn
activities, than in individual sports. Team sport athletes are presumed to have lower
burnout scores than individual sport athletes, as found regarding the first hypothesis,
therefore one rnight expect no dserence to appear in tests for differences between males
and females with this subject sample.
In s u r r r m q , there was not a gender difference found on the results of the EASI.
-
This was contrary to the earlier finding of Gould (1996), Feigley (1984) and Nash (1987).
This may have occurred because of a small number of females participahg in the study,
and the overrepresentation of team athletes among them.
Coping and Coping Remonses
It was hypothesized that team sport participants wouid use different coping
strategies than individual sport athletes. Female athletes were predicted to have a greater
total COPE score than male athletes, as well, femaie athletes were hypothesized to use
emotional and instrumentai social support as a coping strategy more than would males.
Team and Individual Sport Athletes
The sixth hypothesis: that team athletes would use different coping strategies than
individual athletes was partially s~ppoaed.The emotional social support'score for team
athletes was 10.5,while individual athletes scored 10.2, significant at the -03 level.
Instrumental social support was not different between these populations. Team athletes
scored 10.0, while individual athietes scored 9 -7.
Team athletes were expected to use different coping strategies than individual
sport athletes, in part because they generaily are believed to have more sociai support
(Crocker, 1992). It would seem that team sport participants would have a different
relationship with teammates, as opposed to an individual spoa athlete who does not have
teammates in the sarne sense of the word.
That team athletes used emotional social support more often than individual sport
participants, means that team athletes talked more to their peers about their situations
than did individual athletes. This may have memt that team sport participants used their
teammates as sounding boards more frequently than individual sport athletes spoke with
their 'teammates'. Perhaps the fact that if a tearn athlete speaks to a peer or teammate,
they feel no threat ~ o that
m person as another competitor, as opposed to an individuai
athlete. An individual athlete might not feel so cornfortable con£ïding in a peer, who may
also be a competitor in their next event.
Instrumental social support means that not only is a fÏiendly ear sought, but
advice as well. Perhaps the instrumental social support score was not significantly
different bccause the individual athletes in this situation generally train together. For
example, the track and field and cross-country athletes al1 gather at a scheduled time to
train as a group. The same is tme for the judo athletes, and the swimmers. This would
not necessarily be true of other individual sport athietes outside the university setting.
In conclusion, team sport athletes had significantly different emotional social
support scores than did individual sport athletes, but no difference was found between the
two groups in regards to instrumental social support. Tearn sport participants are
generally presumed to have social support more available to them to use as a coping
strategy when compared to individual athletes. The individual sport athletes' training
situation in this instance, may have contributed to the results obtained with regards to
instrumental social support.
Gender Differences
Hypothesis seven stated that females would have higher overall coping scores
than males, and hypothesis eight stated that females would use social support (both
ernotional and instrumental) more fiequently than males.
Although it appeared as though females scored higher on the total COPE scale,
and in the use of emotional and instrumental social support, when compared to maIes,
none of these differences were significant. This may be due to the fact that the majority
of these athletes are playing at the varsity levei. The university setting is more social
than many other sport environments, and encourages social participation. McGill
University is also a large school in an urban environment where there are numerous
suppoa agencies available to students. This includes a counseling cenbe on campus, an
anonymous twenty-four-hour-a-day help h e , sport psychoiogists a5 part of the faculty,
not to mention the public and private services offered in the city of Montreal. Also,
whether involved in an individual sport or a team, most university athletes see themselves
as part of a team that trains together. This, as well as the social structure of the university
could have contnbuted to the lack of significant differences between males and femdes
in regards to coping strategies, inciuding emotional and instrumental social support.
To conclude, no significant difference was found for the total COPE score
between male and female athletes. This may be a result of the level of cornpetition in
which most of these athletes participate, the socially supportive atmosphere of the
university as a whole, or the 'team' aspect of the individual athietes' training regime.
Summarv
The different potential for burnout between tearn and individual, male and female
athletes across a variety of sports, and the extent to which these populations use different
coping strategies was examined.
As is in evidence fiom the contents of this chapter, some of our hypotheses were
supported while others were not. This May suggest that while the literature reflects the
facts on the buniout and coping phenomena to some extent, there is much yet to be
examined. Perhaps there is more variation in these phenomena with the specific
populations studied than there is stability across even fairly high level athletic
cornpetitors. This certainly appears to be the case when comparing the present results to
those of earlier researchers' in terms of length of sport involvement, importance of the
sport in the athlete's life, gender differences, and to some extent, the means of coping
among individual and team sport athietes.
There generdly is agreement and support in the present results wÏth the frndings
of previous research in terms of differences in buniout in team and individual athletes,
and one's competitive level and burnout potential, and to some degree, the coping
strategies used by teams and individual sport participants.
CHAPTER VI
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS
and RECOMMENDATXONS
Stress is something everyone experiences, and deals with on a daily basis. It is
not necessarily the amount of stress that causes one to become burned out, but their
interpretation of the stressors, and their ability to cope with them. The better one's
coping skills are, the less likely they are to become burned out.
In this study, team and individual sport participants, gender, age, level of
competition, and level of importance of sport involvement were examined in relation to
burnout potential, and personal coping strategies. Conclusions of previous burnout and
coping research demonstrate a relationship between these two psychological phenomenon
differing somewhat with the variables Listed previously. Individual sport athletes are
believed to have a greater potential to bumout than do team athletes, and are said to use
different coping strategies than team spoa athletes. Female athletes are also believed to
have greater potential to buniout than males, as are athletes who compete at a higher level
when compared to those less cornpetitive sport participants.
No previous research exarnining the Iink between potential for burnout and
different coping strategies considering variation with gender, age, level of play, and
importance of sport involvement was found. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to
examine the potential for burnout between team and individual, male and female athletes
across a variety of sports, and to determine the extent to which these populations use
different coping strategies.
Sumrnarv of Procedues
Athletes of nine McGill University intercollegiate teams, and one Canadian
National team participated in the study. One hundred and seventy-three respondents
completed two inventories consisting of questions asking how they felt duing their most
cornpetitive season, and what coping strategies they used to deal with the stressors. The
athletes also answered background questions conceniing the Iength o f involvement in
their sport, the highest level cornpeted at, and the importance of this activity in their lives.
The data was collected fiom the athletes in theÏr sport groups. For each subject a total
EABI score, total COPE score, and a score for two COPE subscales were obtained and
recorded. Athletes competing at international and nationai Ievels were categorized as the
higher level, and dl other Levels were designated as at the lower competitive level. The
level of importance of sport in their lives was detemiined as high or low, depending upon
how they responded to the Likert type question on that subject.
The majority of the athlete's scores were compared using independent t-tests. A
regression was used to determine if there was a relationship between the length of sport
involvement and burnout scores. An ANOVA was used to see if a relationship existed
between the length of sport participation and burnout. Post hoc comparisons, where
appropriate, were carried out to identie exact locations of the significant differences.
Sumrnarv of Results and Discussion
This study confirmed that individual sport athletes have a greater potential to
burnout than do tearn sport athletes. The repetitious nature of individual sport training,
the length of the competitive and training season, and pressure fiom themselves and
others to succeed may be causes of this.
It was hypothesized that potential to bumout would decrease with length of spoa
involvement, other things being equal. This was not f o n d to be the case, as no
relationship was found. This may have been because afmost d l subjects were university
students at the time. Beginning university, possibly living in a new environment, training
with a new coach and teammates, and dealing with examinations and assignments are aII
stressful situations îhat may have had an S e c t on the results. A number of participants
stated that varsity was the highest level of cornpetition achieved, meaning that the
transition to new coaches, teammates and living arrangements was happening at the same
time as they were competing, perhaps contributing to an increase in EABI scores.
It was expected that athletes competing at a higher level (national or international)
would have higher burnout scores than those competing at a lower level (provincial or
varsity). The results confirmed this hypothesis. Athletes competing at a higher level
probably train for more hours, compete more often and have higher expectations of their
performances than do those competing at iower levels. This would seem to explain their
higher vulnerability to burnout.
Athletes who rated their activity with a high Ievel of importance were expected to
have greater EABI scores than those athletes who did not feel their sport was as
important in their lives. Across the sarnple of athletes as a whole, this was not found to be
true. However, individual sport athletes rating sport highly in their lives had greater EBI
score than team athletes with a similar sport importance rating. An unexpected result was
found with team athletes: those who rated the importance of their sport as low, had higher
EABI scores than those who rated their sport with a high level of importance.
Presumably, an athlete who places a great deal of importance on their sport will be more
concemed with their success in that activity than one who places less importance thereon.
This could be a cause of bumout. Perhaps the opposite result occurred in team spom
because other H e stressors influenced the EABI scores.
It was hypothesized that female athletes would score higher on the EABI than
male athletes. This was not supported by the data. The minimal representation of female
athletes in the study may have been a factor. Slightly more of the women in this study
were team athletes, and team athletes as a whole were found to have significantiy lower
EABI scores than individual sport participants. This too, may have affected the result
obtained.
Team and individual athletes were hypothesized to use different coping strategies.
This was found to be partially true. Team athletes used significantly more emotional
social support as a coping strategy than did individual sport athletes. No difference was
found between groups in the use of instrumental social support as a coping strategy,
however. This was partly in agreement with previous findings by Carver et al. (1989). It
appears fiom these results that team athietes tend to rely on others for emotional support
more than do individual spoa participants. However, the individual sport athletes at
McGill University often train together as a group. This has the pcitential to lessen the
differences in coping styles used between team and individual sport athletes, since some
focus seems to be taken off the individual in this style of training.
The last two hypotheses of this study predicted that female athletes would have a
greater total COPE score than male athletes, and that the female athletes would use social
support more fiequently than male athletes. Neither hypothesis was supported. This may
be a result of the university setting in which most of the subjects live. Varsity sports can
be social settings in which to meet people of similar interests, and find fnends in a new
school. This may have affected the results regarding coping strategies used.
Conclusions
Based on the fhdings and considerhg the limitations of this study, the following
conclusions seem warranted:
Individual sport athietes competing in elite level judo, and a variety of varsity
sports are more prone to burnout than are team spart athletes at approximately the same
level of play.
Length of involvement in varsity sports, of a team or individual nature, and elite
level judo, are not related to bumout potential.
National and international level athletes have a greater propensity to burnout than
those competing at the varsity and provincial levels.
Individual varsity and elite level judo athletes who rate their sport with a high
Ievel of importance in their lives are more prone to buniout than team sport participants
who rate their sport similady. Varsity team athletes who rate their spoa with a low level
of importance are more prone to bumout than team athletes who rate their sport with a
high lever of importance in their lives.
Female varsity and judo athletes are no more prone to burnout than male athletes
at a similar cornpetitive level.
Varsity team athletes use emotionai social support as a coping strategy more
fiequently than do individual sport participants. There is no difference between these two
groups in regards to use of instrumental social support.
Female athietes in this study were not found to have higher total COPE scores
than male athietes, nor did they use emotional and instrumental social support more
£kequentlythan male athletes.
Implications of the Research
The findings of this study suggest a number of characteristics of athletes that may
be kept in mind in an attempt to prevent burnout. It has been shown that individual sport
athletes are more prone to burnout than are team sport athletes. It seems that the stressors
felt by the athletes on thek own are more of a burden than if shared with others. Perhaps
alsoythe repetitious, solitary nature of training Iacks the social support of a team
environment. Coaches of individual sport athletes could recognize the increased potential
for buniout among their athletes and p l m creative workouts, encourage training as a
tearn, or in pairs, or encourage social interaction to make the individual athletes feel as
though they are part of a bigger pictureyrather than a lone figure.
It was also found that athletes who compete at the national or international level
are more likely to burnout than those who compete at the varsity or provincial levels. It
would appear that athletes who compete at a higher level may train and compete more
often, and feel greater pressure from themselves and others to perform well. Athletes at
these higher cornpetitive levels need to recognize their relative vulnerability to bumout.
Individual spoa participants who place more importance on their activity than
others, and team athletes placing less importance on their actïvity, have been found to be
more likely to burnout than others. This seems reasonable in terms of individual athletes,
since those who take their job more seriously than their counterparts, for example, are
often more concemed with the end result of their efforts, and put time and energy into
projects that perhaps others do not. Athletes who place a high level of importance on
their sport need to find a balance between that, and the overall perspective of their sports
in their lives.
Finally, it has been seen that to some extent, team sport athletes dif%er in their
coping strategies in comparison to individual sport athletes. Team sport athletes used
emotional social support more fiequently than individual sport participants, which means
they were more likely to talk with someone about how they were feeling. If individual
athletes are reluctant to speak with their teammates or other members of their peer group,
their coaches should perhaps try to be more available, or a spoa psychologist could be
introduced to the group.
In general, coaches, parents, and athletes themselves should be more aware of the
potential one has to burnout. In particular, athletes in individuai sports, those who
compete at a high level, and individual athletes who feel their sport has great significance
in their lives should realize their vulnerability to burnout fiom th& sport. Coaches and
athletes who recognize the characteristics that increase burnout potential may be able to
decrease stressors, and ultïmately prevent bumout
Recommendations for Further Research
Based on this study7sresdts and limitations, and related research findings, the
following studies might provide additional information.
1. Repeat this snidy with equal numbers of team and individual, male and female athletes.
2. Repeat this study with better defined cornpetitive categories, and preferably with a
more elite population.
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APPENDIX A
INFORMED CONSENT
This study deds with stress, burnout, and coping among team and individuai
athletes. It has been suggested that individual athletes are more vuherable to burnout
than are team athletes. It is also suggested that team athletes may have different coping
rnechanisms that individual athietes- We would like to see to what extent this is true, and
if it is, what rnay be done to help athletes more easily cope with the demands of their
sport.
You are being asked to complete two questionnaires, and background information that
will take approximately 20-25 minutes. Your name wiIl not appear on the questionnaires
and your responses wïil be kept strictly confidential. Your participation is strïctly
voluntary, and you are fiee to withdraw at any time.
The study's results will be available through Dr. Neil in the Physicd Education
Department of McGill Universiq, and pubiished in a sport psychology journal. Yow
coach may also receive a copy of the findings at their request.
If you understand this consent fom, and agree to participate, please sign below. If you
have any M e r questions regarding this project I can be reached at:
(5 14) 845-7980 or e-mail: B3Zl @MusicB.McGill.ca
Susan Finch and Dr. G. Neil
Signature of Athlete:
Date:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Gender: Male
Fernale
Age:
What sport do you participate in?
What is the highest competitive level you have reached in your sport?
Varsity
Provincial
National
International
How old were you when you began playing or participating in your sport competitively?
years old
What is the Ievel of importance of this sport in your life?
Not very important
I
2
somewhat important
3
4
very important
5
most important
6
7
EABI Inventory
The Sport Participation Survev
Below are 36 statements reflecting feelings and thoughts you may have had about your sport participation.
Please read each statement carefully and decide if you have ever felt or thought this way. Include al1
activities (e-g., offseason training and competitive season activities). It is important to indicate how ofien
you have felt this way. Please answer ali questions.
HOW
O
OFTEN Never
I
2
A few tintes
Once a
this year o r
Iess
month or
less
3
A few times
a month
4
Once a
weeli
5
A few
times this
6
Every
driy
week
1. I just want the season to be over.
2. 1 feeI tense about my practices.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
O 1 2 3 4 5 G
3. I fee1 overwhelmed by the dernands of my spon: participation
4. 1 feeI so tired from rny trainin3 that I have trouble studyingkvorking- O 1 2 3 4 5 6
5. 1 feel successful in rny sport endeavours.
O 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
6 . 1 know exactly what is expected of me by rny coach.
7. I feeI my teammates/peers blamed me for some oftheir mistakesO 1 2 3 3 5 6
S. My sport participation significantly enhances my self image.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
9. My sport performances are really going downhill.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
O 1 3 2 4 5 6
10. I don't feel confident about rny sport abilityI I . The effort 1spend participating in my sport would be becter spent
O 1 2 3 4 5 6
tryîn_oto achieve more important goals.
0 1 2 2 4 5 6
12. I feei like my coach onIy cares about me as an athlete and not
as a complete person.
0 1 2 4 5 6
13. 1 feel frustrated about my sport participation.
14. 1 feel rny coach treated me like an impersonal object.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
15. 1 feel satisfied with my sporting accomplishrnents.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
16. I just can't do it anymore.
17. 1 feel emotionally drained fiom my sport participation.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
18. I feel my teammatedpeers only care about me as an athlete
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
and not as a complete person.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
19. 1don't know if rny performance is acceptable ro my coach.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
20- 1 do perform up to my ability in my sport.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
2 1. 1 feeI tired when I think about having to go to practice.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
21. 1 feel certain about how my coach evaluates my performance.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
23- 1 feel my peers don't realty care how I do in rny sport.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
24. 1 don't have enough time to cornplere my sport and
outside acrivities.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
25. 1 have doubts about my ability in my sport.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
26. feel like a failure in my sport.
27. I feel rny sport participation positively influences my life.
O 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
28. 1 feel physically worn out fiom my sport participation.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
29. I feel v e l energetic at practice.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
30. 1 want to quit my sporr3 I - I agree wirh what my coach wants me to do in my sport.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
32. 1 feel depressed about my spon participation.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
33. 1 feel overly tired from rny training.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
34. 1 feel eshilarated afrer rnining.
35. ir is hard to find the effort to complete rny sport and outside
0 1 1 3 4 5 6
responsibilities.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
36- I feel ernbarrassed about my performance.
'
COPE Inventory
REACTIONS T 0 CHAI-LENGE
We are intcrcsted in Iesrning hotv p u respondcd io a strcssful and'or chsllenging eyent
as you playcd your sport, and w h î i p u did to copc with ihis stresslchallenge. P l e a x
rccall an occasion (relaicd to your sport) that you round pnicularly demandin~
or
disturbed or iroubled you in some way. Circle ihe nurnber that best represene how \ d l
p u coped while dealing with this situation in rnind. Circle the answer ihst is MOST tme
of the coping stntegies you used to dral tvith this situarion.
H0w wcll do you fccf you copcd wirh the abovc strcssful/chalIenging situation?
Poori y
1.
Modtauly
1 iried to grow as a pcrson as a rcsuIr of this
cxpcricncc.
2.
I turned to school or substiiu~cactiviiics to izkc rny
things-
mind off
3.
1 got upset and Icr rny emorions out.
4
I in'cd to gct advicc from somconc abour w9at to do.
5.
1 conccniratcd my efforts on doing sorncthing
abour it.
6. I said to mysclf "this isn'i ra.1.7.
1 pur my trusr in Cod.
8.
I admitrcd. ro nysc1f thai 1 couldn'c deal with ir
and quit Irying.
9. 1 rcstrained
LOO
myself from doing anything
quickly.
10. I discussed my fcclings with somconc.
1 1. I got uscd to the idca thar ir happcncd.
12. I r3lkcd t o somconc CO find out more about
rhc
situation.
13. 1 k e p ~mysclf from gctting distractcd by othcr
ihoughts o r activities.
14. 1 daydreamcd
about things othcr rhan ir.
15. 1 got upset and was rcaIIy awarc o f it.
16. 1 saught God's help.
17. 1 made a plan of action.
18. i acccpicd that it happcncd and that it couldn'r
be
changed.
19. 1 hcId off doing anything about it until the
situation pcrmi~tcd,
20. 1 tritd .to gct cmotional support from frîcnds
or
relarivcs,
22, 1 took additional action to try to get rid of
the probltm,
23, 1 rcfuscd to belicvt that
24, 1
-..- - ..
it had happcned.
Ict rny fcclings out.
: -25.- sccm
1 iricd to +cc ii in a difrsrcni light to rnakc it
more positive,
26. f ialkcd Lo somconc who c0uld do somcihing
3
2
1
4
concrctc aboui it.
1 slcpt mort than usual-
1 [ricd to comc up with a stratcgy about what
1 could do.
I focuscd on deàling wirh the problcm.
and if ncccssary. Ict othcr ihings slide a Little.
1 got sympathy and undersianding from sorneone.
1 gavc u p the attcmpt 10 get whar I want.
1 looked f o r something good in what had happcncd.
1 thoughr about how I might bcst handlc
the
problcm.
1 prctcndcd
that it hadn't happcned.
1 made sure not to make maitcrs worsc by
acting too soon.
1 tricd to prcvcnt othcr things from inrcrfcring
with my e f f o n s at dcaling wiih it.
1 weni to thc rnovics o r wxchcd T V
about it Icss.
to
think
1 acccpied i h c rcality of ihc fact i r happcncd.
1 askcd pcoplc who had similar cxpcricnccs
what thcy did.
1 fclt a lot o f emotional distress. and 1 found mysclf
cxprcssing ~ h o s c feelings a lot.
to gct around ihc problcm.
El-
1 took dirccr action
4 '>-
1 tried ro find c o m f o n in my religion.
4 3*
I forccd mysclf to waic for the right timc to
do
sorncthing.
1 reduccd t h e amount
ihc problcm.
of effon I pur inro soIving
1 taIkcd to somconc about how 1 fcir.
1 l c ~ r n c d io live with it.
4 7 . 1 put asidc othcr activixies in ordcr to
concenirate o n
it.
48. 1 thought hard about what sreps to cake.
1
2
3
4
49. 1 actcd as though it hadn'i cvcn happcncd.
1
2
3
4
50. I did what had to bc done. one step at a timc.
1
2
3
4
51. 1 lcarned
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
somcthing from the experience.
52. 1 praycd more than usual,
MCGILL UNWERSITY
FACULTY OF EDUCATiON
CERTIFICAT€ O F ETHICAL ACCEPTABILIW FOR RESEARCH
INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS
t
-'-
-
bc:-Y-
b2n's
A review cornmittee consisting of:
1, Prof, Evelyn, Lusthaus
4, Prof- Mary Maguire
Department of Edumtionai and Counselling
Department of Second Language Education
2, Prof. John Leide
5. Prof. Claudia Mitchell
Graduate School of Library and Infamation Studies
Department of Educatianal Studies
3, Prof. Margaret Downey
6.Prof. Kevin McDonough
Department of Physical Education
Department of Culture and Values in Education
has exarnined the application for c~rtificâtionof the ethicâl acceptsbifity of the projeci tiifed:
as proposed by:
I\pplicanfs ~ a m e
Appiicant's Signature
-
Si&
%,- r\
,qrLF
5-Kt//
Supervisor'sName
Supervisots Signature
V
The review cornmittee considers the research procedures, as explaineci by the applicant in this
application, to be acceptable on ethical grounds.
(Signed)
a)
b)
cl
Associate Dean (Academic)
Revised March, 1998
Oftye