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This article was downloaded by: [5.83.65.108]On: 02 April 2014, At: 21:39Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
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The mediational role of perceivedstress in the relation betweenoptimism and burnout in competitiveathletesHenrik Gustafsson a b & Therése Skoog ca Faculty of Social and Life Sciences , Karlstad University ,Karlstad , Swedenb School of Health and Medical Sciences , Örebro University ,Örebro , Swedenc Department of Psychology , Örebro University , Örebro , SwedenAccepted author version posted online: 13 Jun 2011.Publishedonline: 05 Jul 2011.
To cite this article: Henrik Gustafsson & Therése Skoog (2012) The mediational role of perceivedstress in the relation between optimism and burnout in competitive athletes, Anxiety, Stress, &Coping: An International Journal, 25:2, 183-199, DOI: 10.1080/10615806.2011.594045
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The mediational role of perceived stress in the relation between optimismand burnout in competitive athletes
Henrik Gustafssona,b* and Therese Skoogc
aFaculty of Social and Life Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden; bSchool of Healthand Medical Sciences, Orebro University, Orebro, Sweden; cDepartment of Psychology, Orebro
University, Orebro, Sweden
(Received 19 January 2010; final version received 1 June 2011)
Burnout has been highlighted as an important issue, not only in occupationalsettings but also among athletes. Optimists appear to be more resistant toburnout, which might be partly explained by lower levels of stress. The purpose ofthis study was to investigate the relationship between optimism and burnoutsymptoms in 217 athletes (139 males and 78 females, aged 16 to 19 years), whilealso examining stress as a mediator in this relationship. The results showed thatoptimism had a significant negative relationship with both stress and burnout.Mediation analyses indicated that perceived stress fully mediated the linksbetween optimism and two symptoms of burnout, emotional/physical exhaustionand sport devaluation, and partly mediated the link between optimism and a thirdsymptom, reduced sense of accomplishment. The findings indicate that individualfactors, such as optimism, may play an important role in the development ofburnout by virtue of their association with stress. Future research should,therefore, investigate the longitudinal effects of optimism on stress and burnout.
Keywords: coaching; elite athletes; overtraining; stress management; positivepsychology; youth sport
Introduction
It has been known for some time that optimists’ perceptions of the world differ from
those of pessimists and that this seems to have implications for the person’s
psychological well-being and general health (Scheier & Carver, 1992; Carver, Scheier,
& Segerstrom, 2010). Optimism also seems to be negatively related to stress and
burnout (Crosno, Rinaldo, Black, & Kelley, 2009; Hayes & Weathington, 2007). Job
burnout is considered a prolonged reaction to chronic emotional and interpersonal
stressors in the person’s relationship with their work (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter,
2001). Burnout is also found in athletes and is associated with negative outcomes
such as performance impairment, reduced enjoyment, depressed mood and,
potentially, sport termination (Gustafsson, Kentta, & Hassmen, 2011). Prevention
of burnout is, therefore, desirable. Interestingly, optimists appear to perceive their life
as less stressful than pessimists, which might be why they are less likely to burn out
(Chang, Rand, & Strunk, 2000).
*Corresponding author. Email: henrik.gustafsson@kau.se
Anxiety, Stress, & Coping
Vol. 25, No. 2, March 2012, 183�199
ISSN 1061-5806 print/1477-2205 online
# 2011 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.594045
http://www.tandfonline.com
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Burnout has gained considerable research attention since the concept was
developed over 30 years ago (Freudenberger, 1974; Maslach, 1976). One reason
probably lies in the detrimental impact of burnout on the individuals involved, which
includes impaired psychological well-being and physical health (Melamed, Shirom,
Toker, Berliner, & Shapira, 2006; Schaufeli & Buunk, 2003). Although Freudenber-
ger (1975) was early to pinpoint athletes as being susceptible to burnout, only more
recently have researchers begun to pay systematic attention to burnout in athletes (cf.Goodger, Gorely, Lavallee, & Harwood, 2007; Gustafsson et al., 2011). Based on
Maslach and Jackson’s (1984) conceptualization of burnout among human service
providers, Raedeke (1997) defined athlete burnout as a multidimensional syndrome
of emotional/physical exhaustion, reduced sense of athletic accomplishment, and
sport devaluation. Exhaustion is the central symptom of burnout, and is related to
stress associated with intense training and competitive demands (Gustafsson et al.,
2011; Raedeke & Smith, 2001). Reduced sense of athletic accomplishment is
manifested in a perception of low ability with regard to performance and sport skill
level (Gould, Tuffey, Udry, & Loehr, 1996; Gustafsson, Hassmen, Kentta, &
Johansson, 2008). Finally, sport devaluation manifests itself in a loss of motivation,
with the athlete ceasing to care about his or her previously beloved sport (Raedeke &
Smith, 2001; Smith, 1986). Qualitative research, in which burned-out athletes from
different sports have been interviewed, supports the view that these suggested
dimensions constitute the core components of athlete burnout (Cresswell & Eklund,
2006; Goodger, Wolfenden, & Lavalle, 2007; Gustafsson et al., 2008).A substantial amount of research has shown that athlete burnout is stress-related
(Gould, Udry, Tuffey, & Loehr, 1996; Hill, Hall, & Appleton, 2010; Raedeke &
Smith, 2004; Smith, 1986). Stress can be defined as a ‘‘substantial imbalance between
demand (physical and/or psychological) and response capability, under conditions
where a failure to meet that demand has important consequences’’ (McGrath, 1970,
p. 20). Even though people can handle rather demanding situations over time if they
have sufficient resources, they still run an increased risk of developing stress-related
ill-health (Semmer, McGrath, & Beehr, 2005). Indeed, the view has been expressed
that chronic stress is the main cause of burnout both among athletes and in
occupational settings (Gustafsson et al., 2011; Maslach et al., 2001). Many stress
researchers argue that it is not stressors per se that lead to ill-health, but the
transactions between the person and the environment and whether the individual
perceives a situation as a threat or not (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Thus, the
appraisal of the potentially stressful event plays an important role in the stress
process.
Optimism is a personality disposition reflecting an expectation that good thingswill happen, whereas pessimism refers to the expectation of negative future outcomes
(Scheier & Carver, 1985, 1992). Studies show that optimism is associated with greater
psychological adjustment and is negatively correlated with stress (Chang, 1998; Chang,
D’Zurilla, & Maydeu-Olivares, 1994; Scheier, Weintraub, & Carver, 1986). Optimists
also appear to experience life as less filled with daily hassles than pessimists (Dykema,
Bergbower, & Peterson, 1995) and do not dwell on problems or stressors (Carver et al.,
1993). A possible explanation for these findings can be found in expectancy-value
theories of motivation (Carver & Scheier, 2002; Carver, Scheier, Miller, & Fulford,
2009). According to this view, people’s behaviors are goal-directed, and stress
will occur when goal attainment is blocked or delayed (Scheier & Carver, 2000).
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The value referred to in these theories is in the importance of the goal, and expectancy
is a degree of confidence over whether the goal will be reached. The goals are divided
into desirable goals that people reach for and undesirable goals that they try to avoid.
The more important the goals are to the individual, the greater the value and, therefore,
the more motivational ‘‘force,’’ the goals have. Optimists are confident that they will
attain their goals, whereas pessimists are doubtful about the outcomes. Optimism is
therefore associated with a sense of control and confidence, making optimists morelikely to adopt active and proactive coping (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1997), and thereby
prevent negative consequences of stress such as ill-health (Taylor, Kemeny, Reed,
Bower, & Gruenewald, 2000). This body of research suggests that optimists act less
reactively to life stressors than pessimists and, therefore, perceive life as less stressful
(Carver et al., 2010).
But why might optimists perceive their lives as less stressful than pessimists? An
important difference between optimists and pessimists appears to lie in how they
interpret and handle their experiences of stress. Optimists more often use active
coping and less avoidance coping than pessimists (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992), and
they are also more inclined to use humor to alleviate the situation (Carver et al.,
1993). Another important difference is that optimists are more prone to acceptance
in uncontrollable situations, whereas pessimists tend toward denial (Litt, Tennen,
Affleck, & Klock, 1992). Thus, optimists appear to view life through a different,
more positive lens than pessimists, and thereby experience a life less full of negative
emotions and stress (Carver et al., 2010; Riskind, Sarampote, & Mercier, 1996).Optimists not only perceive life as less stressful, they also appear to be less likely
to experience symptoms of burnout. Research shows that optimism is negatively
related to burnout (Crosno et al., 2009; Hayes & Weathington, 2007; Thomas &
Rose, 2010). Even though these studies are all cross-sectional by nature, one study
has shown that a high level of dispositional optimism is negatively related to burnout
10, 14, and 17 years later (e.g., Salmela-Aro, Tolvanen, & Nurmi, 2009). Research
has not only shown that optimism is significantly negatively correlated with burnout,
but also that the relation between optimism and burnout is mediated, at least partly,
by stress (Chang et al., 2000). From a theoretical perspective, since optimism is
presumed to lead to experiencing life as less stressful (Scheier & Carver, 1987; Carver
et al., 2010; Chang et al., 1994; Taylor et al., 2000), stress is a potential mediator in
the relationship between optimism and burnout. That is, burnout is thought to be
caused by chronic stress to which optimists are less disposed (Cordes & Dougherty,
1993; Maslach et al., 2001).
In comparison with occupational settings, the relations between optimism, stress,and burnout in athletes are less explored. There is strong support for a relationship
between stress and athlete burnout (Black & Smith, 2007; Raedeke & Smith, 2001,
2004). Despite this, few studies have investigated stress as a mechanism in the
development of athlete burnout. In one exception, Raedeke and Smith found stress
to mediate the relationship between coping behaviors and burnout in age group
swimmers (2004). Recently, a significant negative correlation between optimism and
two of the burnout dimensions, emotional/physical exhaustion and sport devaluation
was found (Chen, Key, & Tsai, 2008). Interestingly, however, the correlation between
optimism and reduced sense of athletic accomplishment was not significant. This
might appear surprising since optimism is found to be correlated with performance
(Norlander & Archer, 2002) and physical self-efficacy (Kavussanu & McAuley, 1995).
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The lack of significant correlation might partly be due to psychometric difficulties
with the subscale of reduced sense of accomplishment in the study by Chen and
colleagues (2008).
Although burnout is viewed as a multidimensional construct (Gustafsson
et al., 2011; Maslach et al., 2001), it is common to study burnout as a global
construct (Amorose, Anderson-Butcher, & Cooper, 2009; Lemyre, Treasure, &
Roberts, 2006 As the three dimensions of burnout are suggested to have different
antecedents (Maslach et al., 2001), it is important to investigate optimism and
each burnout dimension separately. From a theoretical standpoint, optimism is
more related to a reduced sense of accomplishment as optimism is characterized
by a sense of efficacy and confidence of future accomplishments whereas
exhaustion and sport devaluation are more stress related (Schaufeli & Buunk,
2003; Scheier & Carver, 1992, 2000).
Inconsistent findings regarding the relationships between optimism, stress, and
burnout require further examination of the issues involved. Although optimism
appears to be negatively related to burnout (Chen et al., 2008; Crosno et al.,
2009), the mechanism is not fully delineated. From a theoretical standpoint, stress
could act as a mediator in this relationship (Carver et al., 2010; Cohen &
Williamson, 1988). Earlier research has found partial support for this hypothesis
(Chang et al., 2000). Furthermore, only one study has examined the relationship
between optimism and burnout in athletes (Chen et al., 2008), and the relation-
ship between the dimensions of burnout and optimism needs further examination.
Therefore, we wanted to investigate the mediational role of stress in the
relationship between optimism and athlete burnout. Based on earlier research
(Chang et al., 2000), we predicted that optimism would be significantly negatively
related to burnout symptoms: low emotional/physical exhaustion, reduced sense of
accomplishment, and sport devaluation. We also expected that this influence
would, at least partly, be mediated by stress on all three burnout dimensions.
Method
Participants
A total of 217 athletes, 139 males (64%) and 78 females (36%), participated in the
study. The participants ranged in age from 16 to 19 years, with a mean age of
17.21 years (SD�.95). All were studying at three sport high schools in Sweden,
representing 25 different sports, including both team sports (e.g., ice-hockey,
basketball, handball, soccer, and volleyball) and individual sports (e.g., biathlon,
cross-country skiing, golf, tennis, and track and field). All participants were
competitive athletes, albeit at different levels. Their average training volume was
ten hours/week (M�9.97, SD�4.14). Although the athletes were involved in both
summer and winter sports, with seasonal variation, they were all in full training.
The academic schedule was based not only on sport but also on educational
commitments, but training was included in their schedule all year-round. Athletes
attending these sport schools were sampled because the risk of developing burnout
may be especially evident among young aspiring athletes (Gustafsson, Kentta,
Hassmen, & Lundqvist, 2007). They face not only high physical demands but also
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psychological pressure to reach elite level (Appleton, Hall, & Hill, 2009;
Gustafsson, Kentta, Hassmen, Lundqvist, & Durand-Bush, 2007).
Procedures
Initially, the principals and head coaches of the three schools were contacted in order
to obtain permission to conduct the study. Its aims were explained to the coaches and
athletes in accordance with the ethical standards of the American Psychological
Association. The athletes who subsequently agreed to participate in the study, byproviding informed written consent, were asked to complete a battery of ques-
tionnaires.
Measures
Optimism
Optimism was measured using a Swedish translation of the revised version of the
Life Orientation Test (LOT-R; Muhonen & Torkelson, 2005; Scheier, Carver, &
Bridges, 1994). The LOT-R is a brief, modified version of the original Life
Orientation Test (Scheier & Carver, 1985) with which it is highly correlated (Scheier
et al., 1994). The Lot-R scale contains 10 items including three positively worded
(e.g., ‘‘In uncertain times, I usually expect the best’’), three negatively phrased (e.g.,
‘‘If something can go wrong for me, it will’’), and four filler items (e.g., ‘‘It is easy forme to relax’’). Responses were provided on a 5-point scale, anchored by 0�‘‘strongly
disagree’’ and 4�‘‘strongly agree’’. High scores on the LOT-R reflect a general
tendency to expect more positive than negative outcomes. Scheier and colleagues
(1994) have provided support for the validity and reliability of the LOT-R with
acceptable factor structure and internal consistencies (i.e., Cronbach’s alpha) above
.70 and test-retest reliabilities ranging from r�.56�.79 during test intervals ranging
from 4 to 28 months, which indicate the stability of the scale.
The Swedish version has acceptable factor validity and an internal consistency(Cronbach’s alpha) score of .81 (Muhonen & Torkelson, 2005). Earlier research has
indicated the validity of using the LOT-R with athletes (Petrie, Greenleaf, Reel, &
Carter, 2009; Venne, Laguna, Walk, & Ravizza, 2006), and the Swedish version of
LOT has been used in a study by Norlander and Archer (2002). Whether optimism is
a one-dimensional or a bipolar construct has been discussed by advocates on both
sides (cf. Carver et al., 2009). For this study, we used the LOT-R as a one-
dimensional construct based on the theoretical model provided by Scheier et al.
(1994).
Athlete burnout
A Swedish version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke & Smith,
2001, 2009) was used to assess the participants’ level of burnout. The ABQ is a 15-item self-report inventory that contains three subscales, including emotional/physical
exhaustion (e.g., ‘‘I feel overly tired from my sport participation’’), reduced sense of
sport accomplishment (e.g., ‘‘I am not performing up to my ability in sport’’), and
sport devaluation (e.g., ‘‘I don’t care as much about my sport performance as I used
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to’’). The stem for each item was ‘‘How often do you feel this way?’’ Participants
responded on a 5-point Likert scale with anchors: (1) ‘‘almost never,’’ (2) ‘‘rarely,’’ (3)
‘‘sometimes,’’ (4) ‘‘frequently,’’ and (5) ‘‘almost always.’’ The ABQ has shown good
psychometric properties with internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha) above .80 forall three subscales, and short-term test-retest reliability (7 to 9 days) ranging from
r�.86 to .92 (Raedeke & Smith, 2001, 2009). The Swedish version of the ABQ has
been found to have acceptable factor validity, and internal consistency (Cronbach’s
alpha) ranging from .83 to .88 (Smith, Gustafsson, & Hassmen, 2010).
Stress
To measure stress, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein,
1983) was employed. The PSS measures self-appraised stress (e.g., ‘‘During the past
month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things
in your life?’’), and consists of 10 items rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 0
(‘‘never’’) to 4 (‘‘very often’’). The questions are general in nature, are, therefore,
relatively context-free (Cohen & Williamson, 1988), and measure the degree to whichrespondents find their lives unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloading, all of
which are central to the stress experience (Cohen et al., 1983). This questionnaire has
been reported to have good construct validity (Cohen et al., 1983; Cohen &
Williamson, 1988) and has been used in research investigating stress as a mediator in
the link between optimism and burnout (Chang et al., 2000). The PSS is a state
measure whose test-retest reliability is adequate for short time periods (2 days,
r�.85), Cohen et al., 1983). The Swedish version has been validated using
confirmatory factor analysis and has been found to have acceptable factor validitywith an internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) of .84 (Smith et al., 2010).
Results
Preliminary analysis
Initially, the participants’ scores were examined for missing values. For three
participants, there was a fairly large number of missing data, more than 5% and,
therefore, we deleted their records from the sample before running descriptive
statistics. The rest of the data-set was complete. Data were thereafter screened for
univariate and multivariate outliers. Following the guidelines of Tabachnick and
Fidell (2007), standardized z-scores with 3.29 as critical value (pB.001) were used for
univariate outliers, and Mahalanobis distances with critical value of x2(5)�20.52
(pB.001) were used for multivariate outliers. No univariate or multivariate outlierswere found. Skewness (z-transformated scores) ranged between �.36 and .66, and
kurtosis between �.22 and .48, which indicated normality.
Descriptive statistics
The lower part of Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, and reliability
estimates for the study measures. All measurements had good alpha coefficients
compared with Nunnally’s (1978) guideline of .70, except for optimism, whose alpha
(.67) was marginally below the cut-off point. However, the mean inter-item
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correlation was found to be acceptable (.25), and the corrected total item correlations
ranged from .24 to .58. Therefore, scale reliability was considered sufficient (Clark &
Watson, 1995). The ABQ scores in this study were low to moderate, indicating
that many of the participants were not particularly burned out, but this is a
commonly reported finding in the literature (Raedeke & Smith, 2009). The mean
values found in the current study were similar to those reported in other studies of
burnout among young athletes (Hill, Hall, Appleton, & Kozub, 2008; Raedeke &
Smith, 2001).
Bivariate correlations
Table 1 also presents the associations between optimism, stress, and the three
dimensions of burnout. A significant negative relationship (pB.01) was found
between optimism and all three dimensions of burnout, indicating that the more
optimistic the athletes were, the less they reported signs of emotional/physical
exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation. In J. Cohen’s
(1988) terminology, the strength of the relationship between optimism and reduced
sense of accomplishment was moderate to strong, for emotional/physical exhaustion
low/weak, and for sport devaluation low to moderate. In sum, optimism seems to be
a significantly negatively correlated with symptoms of burnout in young athletes.
Optimism was also negatively correlated with stress (pB.001), for which the strength
of the relationship was moderate to high/strong.As expected, stress was significantly related to all three dimensions of burnout
(pB.001), indicating that the more stressful the athletes perceived their life situations
to be, the higher the degree of emotional/physical exhaustion, the lower the sense of
accomplishment, and the greater sport devaluation they reported. The strengths of
the associations ranged from moderate for emotional/physical exhaustion and sport
devaluation to high/strong for reduced sense of accomplishment (J. Cohen, 1988).
Thus, perceiving one’s life situation as stressful seems to be linked to a higher risk of
burnout among young athletes.
Table 1. Correlations and descriptive statistics.
1 2 3 4 5
1.Optimism 1
2.Perceived stress �.44*** 1
3.Emotional/physical
exhaustion
�.17* .39*** 1
4.Sport devaluation �.27*** .40*** .46*** 1
5.Reduced
accomplishment
�.40*** .54*** .39*** .67*** 1
M 3.38 1.84 2.24 2.15 2.34
SD 0.63 0.65 0.77 0.93 0.80
Cronbach’s alpha .67 .84 .87 .85 .83
Note: N �217.*pB.05; **pB.01; ***pB.001.
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Hierarchical regression analyses
According to Baron and Kenny (1986), perceived stress is a mediator of the links
between optimism and the three aspects of burnout if: (1) optimism is significantly
correlated with perceived stress, (2) perceived stress is significantly correlated with
the particular aspect of burnout, (3) optimism is significantly correlated with the
particular aspect of burnout, and (4) the correlation between optimism and the
particular aspect of burnout is zero when perceived stress is controlled for. If
the correlation is reduced, but not to zero, there is support for partial mediation. In
addition to this technique for testing mediation, which is likely to suffer from low
statistical power (MacKinnon, Lockwood, Hoffman, West, & Sheets, 2002), we
used the procedure developed by Preacher and Hayes (2004), which is a
bootstrapping technique for testing directly the significance of the indirect effect
of a mediating variable on an association between a predictor and an outcome
variable.We tested the mediation hypothesis for all three aspects of burnout: emotional/
physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment and sport devaluation,
separately. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses used to test mediation
according to Baron and Kenny (1986) are reported in Table 2.
Emotional/physical exhaustion
At the first step of a hierarchical regression analysis, optimism was entered into the
model, F(1, 215)�8.16, pB.01. Optimism was a significant predictor of emotional/
physical exhaustion, accounting for 4% of the variance in this burnout symptom. At
the second step, perceived stress was added to the model, F(2, 214)�18.20, pB.001.
At this point, optimism was no longer a significant predictor of emotional/physical
exhaustion, and explained minimal variance in the burnout symptom. According to
the procedure proposed by Preacher and Hayes (2004), the indirect effect (estimated
using 5000 bootstrap resamples, with replacement) was significant (bootstrap
coefficient��.16), with a 95% confidence interval of �.24 to �.09. These findings
indicate that perceived stress fully mediates the link between optimism and
emotional/physical exhaustion.
Table 2. Mediation models predicting the three symptoms of athlete burnout from optimism
and perceived stress.
Emotional/physical
exhaustion Sport devaluation
Reduced sense of
accomplishment
Predictor DR2 b DR2 b DR2 b
Step 1 .04 .07 .14 �.37***
Optimism �.19** �.27***
Step 2 .11 .10 .17 �.17**
Optimism �.03 �.11 .45***
Stress .37*** .35***
Total R2 .15 .17 .31
*pB.05; **pB.01; ***pB.001.
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Sport devaluation
At the first step of a second hierarchical regression analysis, optimism was entered
into the model, F(1, 215)�16.26, pB.001. Optimism was a significant predictor of
sport devaluation, accounting for 7% of the variance in this burnout symptom
(R2�.07). At the second step, perceived stress was added to the model, F(2,
214)�21.97, pB.001. At this point, optimism was no longer a significant predictor
of sport devaluation and explained only 1% of the variance in the burnout symptom.
According to the procedure proposed by Preacher and Hayes (2004), the indirect
effect (estimated using 5000 bootstrap resamples, with replacement) was significant
(bootstrap coefficient��.19), with a 95% confidence interval of �.28 to �.10.
These findings indicate that perceived stress fully mediates the link between optimism
and sport devaluation.
Reduced sense of athletic accomplishment
At the first step of the third hierarchical regression analysis, optimism was found to
be a significant predictor of reduced sense of accomplishment, accounting for 14% of
the variance in this burnout symptom, F(1, 215)�34.62, pB.001, R2�.14. At the
second step, perceived stress was added to the model. At this point, although beta fell
from .37 to .17, optimism was still a significant predictor of reduced sense of
accomplishment, explaining 3% of the variance in the burnout symptom, F(2,
214)�46.85, pB.001. According to the procedure proposed by Preacher and Hayes
(2004), the indirect effect (estimated using 5000 bootstrap resamples, with replace-
ment) was significant (bootstrap coefficient��.22), with a 95% confidence interval
of �.31 to �.13. These findings indicate that perceived stress partially mediates the
link between optimism and a reduced sense of athletic accomplishment.
Discussion
The purposes of this study were to investigate the relation between optimism and
burnout among athletes, and the mediational role played by stress in this relation-
ship. We found that optimistic athletes displayed lower levels of emotional/physical
exhaustion and sport devaluation and less of a reduced sense of accomplishment.
Therefore, it appears that optimism is associated with lower perceptions of burnout.
We also found that stress fully mediated the relation between optimism and burnout
on two of the burnout dimensions (physical/emotional exhaustion and sport
devaluation), but that it only partly mediated the relation between optimism and
reduced sense of accomplishment.
The results from this study partly replicate the findings from the only other earlier
study that has investigated the relationship between optimism and athlete burnout;
namely, that optimism is negatively related to exhaustion and sport devaluation
(Chen et al., 2008). However, there is one exception: we also found support for a
negative relationship between optimism and reduced sense of accomplishment. Our
findings are, thereby, in-line with research in occupational settings where additional
support has been found for a negative relationship between optimism and all three
dimensions of burnout (Crosno et al., 2009; Thomas & Rose, 2010).
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As burnout is considered a multidimensional syndrome by many (Maslach et al.,
2001; Raedeke, 1997), knowledge of the relationships between stress, optimism, and
the independent burnout dimensions is important in order to increase our under-
standing of burnout. The finding that stress did not fully mediate the relationship
between optimism and reduced sense of accomplishment might not be surprising.
The mediating role of stress in relation to exhaustion and sport devaluation appears
reasonable according to theoretical assumptions, since these dimensions are clearlystress-related (Maslach et al., 2001; Schaufeli & Buunk, 2003). Even more
importantly, the theoretical ideas underlying both optimism and reduced sense of
athletic accomplishment are linked. Optimism can be regarded as generalized
positive outcome expectancy or as a sense of confidence that a goal can be attained
(or a lack of doubt as to the goal’s attainability; Carver et al., 2010; Carver & Scheier,
2002). The significant correlation found in this study strengthens this assumption.
Furthermore, others have also argued that burnout is more than just stress
(Raedeke, 1997). One explanation for the direct effect of optimism on burnout might
be in social relationships: optimists are better than pessimists at developing social
relationships and this is known to have positive effects on health and general well-
being (Brisette, Scheier, & Carver, 2003; S. Cohen, 1988; Geers, Reilly, & Dember,
1998). These issues need further exploration, but not spending time with significant
others has been found to be related to burnout in athletes (Kjørmo & Halvari, 2002).
It is also important to note that some researchers (Kristensen, Borritz, Villadsen,& Christensen, 2005; Shirom, 1989) have criticized the multidimensional view of
burnout. These researchers argue that reduced sense of accomplishment is not part
of the burnout phenomenon. This is shown in the low correlation between lack of
accomplishment and the two other dimensions, whereas exhaustion and cynicism are
highly correlated (Lee & Ashforth, 1996) and lack of accomplishment seems to
develop individually or in parallel with the two other dimensions (Leiter, 1993;
Schutte, Toppinen, Kalimo, & Schaufeli, 2000). This can explain the different
relationship between optimism and this dimension. However, the unidimensional
view of burnout has been strongly criticized by others who claim that reducing
burnout to exhaustion will make us lose sight of the phenomenon entirely (Maslach
et al., 2001; Schaufeli & Taris, 2005). Frustration over lack of accomplishment also
seems to be a salient feature of athlete burnout (Gustafsson et al., 2008). Therefore,
the role of optimism in relation to this dimension needs further investigation.
To some extent, the findings in the current study are also consistent with earlier
research in occupational settings (Chang et al., 2000). However, in our study, where
we found stress to fully mediate the relationship between optimism and two of theburnout dimensions (exhaustion and sport devaluation). Chang and colleagues, by
contrast, found that stress did not fully mediate the effect of optimism in any
burnout dimension. Explanations for the differences in findings must be interpreted
with caution because different types of measures were used. In the study by Chang et
al. (2000), burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach,
Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) that measures occupational burnout, whereas the sport-
specific ABQ was used in the present study. Although it has been suggested that
athlete and job burnout have similar theoretical underpinnings (Raedeke, 1997), the
roles of stress and optimism in relation to athlete burnout may be different. One
possible explanation is the physical component of exhaustion in athlete burnout and,
thereby, that athlete burnout is more strongly stress related than occupational
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burnout due to the physical training stress in sport (Gustafsson et al., 2011). As
aforementioned, exhaustion and cynicism (or sport devaluation in athletic settings)
are considered to be the more stress related dimensions in job burnout (Schaufeli &
Buunk, 2003). However, reduced sense of accomplishment was the burnoutdimension with the strongest correlation with stress in the current study. This
pattern has also been found in other studies of athlete burnout (Black & Smith, 2007;
Raedeke & Smith, 2001). This must be further delineated in future research, but one
reason may be the measure of stress (PSS) that does not take training load into
account. Another important difference of athlete and job burnout is that the
participation in sport for these athletes is voluntarily as they are not employed (i.e.,
professional). This contrasts with burnout in occupational settings where work and
employment are not self-determined and instead are necessities for income.
Limitations and future directions
The current study has a number of limitations that must be taken into account. The
somewhat low internal consistency of the LOT-R found in this investigation must be
considered. Although the LOT-R is not a sport-specific measure, it has been used
successfully with athletes (Petrie et al., 2009; Venne et al., 2006). In the validation of
the Swedish version (Muhonen & Torkelson, 2005), acceptable internal consistencywas found (Cronbach’s alpha of .81). The athletes in the current study were younger
than the earlier populations using the Swedish version, which might be explain the
somewhat low internal consistency.
The cross-sectional design of this study is a limitation, and the long-term effects
of optimism on burnout perceptions need further investigation. A longitudinal
design is essential for investigating the direction of the effect of optimism on the risk
of burnout (Peterson & Bossio, 2002) and, to our knowledge, only one study has
investigated this relationship (Salmela-Aro et al., 2009). Even though there isconsiderable support for the positive long-term effects of optimism on health
(Peterson, 2000), studying the associations between optimism, stress, and burnout
using a longitudinal design is a necessity in future research.
Earlier research into burnout and stress has investigated sport-specific stress (e.g.,
Raedeke & Smith, 2001, 2004). This is in-line with the view that burnout is context
specific and work related (Maslach et al., 2001). However, recent research
(Gustafsson et al., 2008) indicates that the total stress experience is associated with
the development of athlete burnout, which is why the general version of PSS has beenused (Smith et al., 2010). Importantly, the PSS is a relatively non-specific measure of
stress, since it measures the global stress experience (Cohen & Williamson, 1988). It
is common to measure specific stressors or stressful events, but research shows that
these kinds of measurements can often be misinterpreted, and that illness is affected
by the global level of stress not just by a specific event (Cohen & Williamson, 1988).
Thus, a global measure of perceived stress would more adequately capture the total
stress experience and, thereby, be more likely to represent the total stress experienced
by athletes (see Kentta & Hassmen, 2002 for a discussion of total recovery andstress). However, the PSS is not designed to measure training stress or effect of
training overload, which might be important to incorporate in future studies. It is
also important to emphasize that in this study stress has been measured at the
‘‘output’’ level (i.e., the individual’s subjective reaction to stress) in comparison with
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‘‘input’’ of stress (i.e., objective external stressors) and that the relationship between
optimism, stress, and burnout may vary depending on when in the transaction stress
is measured (Lazarus, 1990). Therefore, investigation into the relationship between
optimism and burnout and different phases of the stress process is warranted.
Implications and conclusion
The practical implication of this study is that promoting optimistic attitudes may be
a potential way of intervening to prevent stress and burnout in athletes. Although no
interventions have been conducted in sport, a variety of interventions have been
proposed in occupational settings, both to treat as well as prevent burnout (Maslach
et al., 2001). The interventions include both individually centered as well as
organizationally focused strategies (Schaufeli & Buunk, 2003). Maslach and Leiter
(1997) have put forward a model of matching (or mismatching) the individual with
six work domains: workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values.
According to this model, the greater the mismatch between the individual and these
areas, the greater the risk of burnout. This model has received initial support but has
not been tested in sport (Maslach & Leiter, 2008).
As stress appears to be an important aspect of burnout in athletes, stress
reduction might be important in preventing athlete burnout. Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective way of reducing stress (Granath,
Ingvarsson, von Thiele, & Lundberg, 2006; van der Klink, Blonk, Schene, & van
Djik, 2001) and also making pessimists more optimistic (Carver et al., 2009). In the
cognitive model (Beck, 1976; Dobson & Dobson, 2009), therapy focuses on changing
specific thoughts and distorted thinking. Although optimism refers to a broad
disposition of generalized expectation, CBT focuses more on specifically biased
thinking where optimism and pessimism can be conceptualized within the cognitive
model (Pretzer & Walsh, 2002). The CBT can make the individual more aware of
automatic pessimistic thinking, challenging such thinking, and using positive
reframing in order to deal with pessimistic beliefs, reduce stress, and potentially
reduce the risk of burnout (Carver et al., 2009; Gustafsson et al., 2011; Pretzer &
Beck, 2007).
Even though social and organizational factors are considered to be the most
prominent causes of burnout (Maslach et al., 2001), the findings of this study and
others (e.g., Chang et al., 2000; Chen et al., 2008) support the importance of
individual differences with regard to optimism in the development of burnout.
Although this does not mean that interventions to enhance the environment in sport
settings (e.g., the motivational climate) are not important in preventing burnout,
certain aspects of elite sports, such as external pressure and training demands, are
difficult or impossible to completely eliminate. Individual-based interventions
designed, for example, to promote an optimistic attitude may therefore be important
in the setting of competitive and elite sports for avoiding burnout and increasing
well-being.
Acknowledgment
This study was partly supported by the Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports.
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