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Highlights*Prevalence is unknown due to a lack of predefined criteria (i.e., diagnostic cut-offs).*Negative social experiences promote the risk of burnout. *Perfectionistic concerns are an important risk factor for athlete burnout. *Prevention research is lacking but findings from job burnout can provide guidelines. AbstractOver the last two decades, growing concerns regarding the negative implications of athlete burnout have spurred empirical research on the topic. In their citation network analysis of the burnout literature, Gustafsson, Hancock and Coté, cited well over 100 publications on the syndrome [1]. Despite considerable investigation into athlete burnout, there remain a number of unresolved questions and issues. Four main aims guide the current review. First, we highlight various models of athlete burnout. Second, we discuss the measurement of athlete burnout. Third, we describe the symptoms, antecedents, and consequences of athlete burnout with a focus on social perceptions and perfectionism. Finally, we provide suggestions for the prevention and treatment of athlete burnout via an illustration of links between theory and practice. It is our hope that this review can stimulate future research in order to help athletes avoid burnout and other severe forms of training maladaptation.

This study examined the factorial validity of the Eades Burnout Inventory (EABI) and the prevalence of burnout in adolescent elite athletes and whether burnout is more common in individual sports than in team sports. The EABI was distributed to 980 athletes (402 females and 578 males) in 29 different sports. Confirmatory-factor analyses revealed an acceptable factorial validity for a theoretically supported four-factor model of the EABI. Between 1% and 9% of the athletes displayed elevated burnout scores on these four subscales. The hypothesis of higher prevalence of burnout in individual sports was, however, not supported. Furthermore, no correlation between training load and burnout scores was found. These findings suggest that factors other than training load must be considered when athletes at risk for burnout are investigated.