Athletic Burnout in High School Students: A Social Perspective

Abstract

An examination of athlete burnout through a social perspective, determining if athlete burnout levels are correlated to levels of social support and social resources in high school student-athletes. According to this framework, high school athletes are likely to experience burnout if they have a low social support network and a lack of autonomy. A sample of 52 female and male high school-aged athletes from New Jersey participated in this study. The Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) and Sport Climate Questionnaire (SCQ) and personal interviews were used in this study. The quantitative data was analyzed using Pearson’s r Correlation Calculator. The quantitative results indicated that there was a negative correlation between social support and the development of athlete burnout among high school student-athletes (r=-.6716), which was further triangulated with the qualitative interview results. These findings revealed that increased social support has the ability to mitigate the severity of athlete burnout; thus to decrease the prevalence of burnout in high school athletes, coaches and athletic directors must enhance their athlete's social support network and resources.