Longitudinal trajectories of athlete burnout among young table tennis players: A 3-wave study.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to examine the trajectories of athlete burnout across a 2-month period characterized by high physical, psychological, and social demands to explore (1) whether several subgroups of athletes representing distinct burnout trajectories emerged from the analyses and (2) whether athlete burnout symptoms (reduced accomplishment, sport devaluation, and exhaustion) developed in tandem or whether some burnout dimensions predicted downstream changes in other dimensions (causal ordering model). METHODS: One hundred and fifty-nine table tennis players in intensive training centers completed a self-reported athlete burnout measure across 3 time points within a 2-month period characterized by high demands. Data were analyzed through latent class growth analysis. RESULTS: Results of latent class growth analysis showed 3 distinct trajectories for each athlete burnout dimension, indicating not only linear or quadratic change but also stability in longitudinal athlete burnout perceptions. Results also suggested that the 3 dimensions of athlete burnout did not develop in tandem. Rather, the likelihood of belonging to particular emerging trajectories of sport devaluation and physical/emotional exhaustion was significantly influenced by the athletes' perception of reduced accomplishment assessed at Time 1. Thus, reduced accomplishment predicted downstream changes in the 2 other athlete burnout dimensions. CONCLUSION: As a whole, these results highlighted that the multinomial heterogeneity in longitudinal athlete burnout symptoms needs to be accounted for in future research.

The prognostic relevance of psychological factors with regard to participation and success in table-tennis.

This study examined the prognostic relevance of self-determined motivation, coping, burnout, perceived stress and recovery experienced by 159 youth table-tennis players involved in intensive training centers with regard to their participation and success six years later. Results of ANCOVAs showed that players who still practiced at time 2 (T2; six years later; n = 130) reported lower time 1 (T1; while they were involved in intensive training centers) amotivation (large effect), disengagement-oriented coping, sport devaluation and reduced accomplishment (moderate effects) than their counterparts who dropped out at T2 (n = 29). Results of ANCOVAs also showed that international (n = 18) and/or national players (n = 86) at T2 reported significantly lower T1 amotivation (large effect), disengagement-oriented coping and sport devaluation (moderate effects) in comparison to regional (n = 26) players at T2. Finally results of correlational analyses showed that T2 performance and/or six-year performance progress were significantly and weakly correlated with introjected and external regulations, perceived stress and perceived recovery, and significantly and moderately correlated with amotivation, disengagement-oriented coping, sport devaluation, and reduced accomplishment. Overall, this study provided insights into the role played by self-determined motivation, coping, burnout, perceived stress and recovery in the table-tennis players' dropout and performance level six years later.

Coping profiles of young Athletes in their everyday life: A three-wave two-month study.

Young athletes in intensive training settings are confronted with a series of daily stressors although they have a smaller and less flexible coping repertoire than adults. Moreover, previous studies neglected the multivariate nature of coping. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to first identify coping profiles of young athletes in response to daily stressors related to their competitive sport involvement. Second, the study examined: (a) if such profiles were similar across the three waves, (b) how many participants belonged to the same profile along the three waves, and (c) whether individuals from distinct profiles differed on burnout, stress, and recovery. One hundred and forty-seven young table-tennis players involved in intensive training settings completed the CICS, RESTQ-Sport, and ABQ three times during a 2-month period. Cluster analyses indicated three similar clusters across the three waves: task-oriented coping, distraction- and disengagement-oriented coping, and low coping profiles. The distribution of athletes significantly varied across waves. Burnout, stress, and recovery significantly differed across the coping profiles. Athletes from the task-oriented coping profile were characterized by the best psychological adjustment (high scores of recovery and low scores of stress and burnout). In contrast, athletes from the distraction- and disengagement-oriented coping profile were characterized by the worst psychological adjustment (high scores of stress and burnout and low scores of recovery). These findings highlighted that the coping profiles allow examining coping within a holistic approach, teasing out the complex associations with key outcomes, such as burnout, stress, and recovery.

Evaluations of the psychometric properties of the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes among a sample of young French table tennis players.

This study used confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) among a sample of young French table tennis players to test: (a) original 19-factor structure, (b) 14-factor structure recently suggested in literature, and (c) hierarchical factor structure of the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport). 148 table tennis players completed the RESTQ-Sport and other self-report questionnaires between one to five occasions with a delay of 1 mo. between each completion. Results of CFAs showed: (a) evidence for relative superiority of the original model in comparison to an alternative model recently proposed in literature, (b) a good fit of the data for the 67-item 17-factor model of the RESTQ-Sport, and (c) an acceptable fit of the data for the hierarchical model of the RESTQ-Sport. Correlations between RESTQ-Sport subscales and burnout and motivation subscales also provided evidence for criterion-related validity of the RESTQ-Sport. This study provided support for reliability and validity of the RESTQ-Sport.

A reciprocal effects model of the temporal ordering of motivation and burnout among youth table tennis players in intensive training settings.

Using self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum) as the theoretical framework, we conducted a longitudinal investigation of the temporal ordering between motivation and burnout among youth athletes in intensive training setting. Data were collected from 145 table tennis players in intensive training centres at three time points during a 2-month period characterised by a simultaneous increase in social, physical and psychological demands for these athletes. Structural equation modelling of cross-lagged panel models was used to test the hypotheses. Results showed significant paths leading from athlete burnout - especially sport devaluation and reduced sense of accomplishment - at time 1 to amotivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations at times 2 and 3. Only two significant paths leading from motivation (introjected regulation at time 1) to burnout (emotional/physical exhaustion at time 2 and reduced sense of accomplishment at time 3) were identified. Overall, our results suggest that athlete burnout predicts motivation over time but motivation did not predict athlete burnout over time. Results are discussed in terms of current research findings on SDT.