Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Burnout Owing to Perfectionism in Elite Athletes Based on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ)

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that burnout negatively affects athletes’ mental health. To further explore this subject, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis by combining data from previous studies. This study followed the PRISMA guidelines for systematic and reliable research and completed data extraction using 10 databases and 8 keywords in December 2021. There were 93 cases of initially extracted data from the selected articles (n = 14) and the meta-analysis was conducted using the “meta” package, version 4.8-4 of R Studio 3.3.3, with data (k = 77) excluding other-oriented perfectionism data (k = 16). The results showed that self-oriented perfectionism had a negative effect on sports devaluation (SD) (ESr = −0.246, p < 0.001), and socially prescribed perfectionism had a positive effect on emotional/physical exhaustion (ESr = 0.150, p < 0.05) and SD (ESr = 0.138, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the test for publication bias showed that no groups had asymmetrical data, and four moderator analyses were conducted to prove the heterogeneity (I2) of the total effect size; however, there was no difference among groups (QB), thereby resulting in unexplained variance. Consequently, this study presents variable data that determine the effects of perfectionism and burnout on elite athletes.

Perfectionism as a Paradoxical Factor in Sport and Exercise Performance: An Umbrella Review

“…Excluded studies involved study protocols and articles that did not investigate the relationship between perfectionism and athletic performance. These eight eligible studies included five systematic reviews ( 31 - 35 ) and three systematic review and meta-analysis studies ( 36 - 38 ).…”

“…Athletes’ burnout is one of the carefully studied constructs in the light of perfectionism. In a recent meta-analytic research, Yang and colleagues have comprehensively reviewed the relationships between perfectionism and burnout in the athletic population ( 36 ). Their findings indicated that self-oriented perfectionism negatively influenced sports devaluation (SD), while socially prescribed perfectionism showed a positive impact on physical or emotional exhaustion and SD.…”