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. 2023 Jan 9:13:1104143.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1104143. eCollection 2022.

How relationship-maintenance strategies influence athlete burnout: Mediating roles of coach-athlete relationship and basic psychological needs satisfaction

Fenghui Fan  1   2   3 , Jinyu Chen  1   2   3 , Yunting Chen  1   2   3 , Bing Li  2   3 , Liya Guo  2   3 , Yang Shi  4 , Feng Yang  2   3 , Qinjun Yang  5 , Longfei Yang  1   2   3 , Cody Ding  1   2   3   6 , Huiying Shi  1   2   3
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How relationship-maintenance strategies influence athlete burnout: Mediating roles of coach-athlete relationship and basic psychological needs satisfaction

Fenghui Fan et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Athlete burnout has many potential negative effects on athletes' sporting performance and careers. Maintaining and promoting the coach-athlete relationship to meet athletes' basic psychological needs is one way to reduce burnout. Existing studies of the correlation between coach-athlete relationships and athlete burnout have mainly focused on the coaches' leadership style, with little attention given to relationship-maintenance strategies and the mechanism of athlete burnout from the athletes' perspective.

Methods: Using an online survey of 256 adolescent athletes, we explore the relationship between relationship-maintenance strategies and athlete burnout, including the potential mediating effects of the coach-athlete relationship and basic psychological needs satisfaction.

Results: (1) Athletes' relationship-maintenance strategies negatively predicted athlete burnout. (2) Besides the direct effect, we found evidence to support three mediation paths: (a) the coach-athlete relationship, (b) basic psychological needs satisfaction, and (c) both as serial mediators.

Discussion: These findings enhance understanding of the mechanism of athlete burnout, demonstrating the influence of factors beyond the coach's role. The study also provides a theoretical basis for practical intervention by coaches, athletes, and sports organizations to reduce athlete burnout by focusing on athletes' perspectives.

Keywords: athlete burnout; basic psychological needs satisfaction; coach–athlete relationship; mental fatigue; relationship-maintenance strategies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposed sequential mediation model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Associations between relationship-maintenance strategies and athlete burnout for the whole sample (N = 256). *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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