The association of positive and negative social interactions with athlete burnout and well-being

Positive and negative social interactions have implications for the psychosocial experiences of athlete burnout and well-being. Athlete burnout is a maladaptive cognitive-affective syndrome characterized by emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, and sport devaluation (Raedeke, 1997) whereas subjective well-being consists of positive affect and life satisfaction (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999). Extant burnout theory (Coakley, 1992; Raedeke, 1997; Smith, 1986) suggests that positive (social support) and negative social interactions are salient to athlete burnout. Moreover, social support and negative social interactions may buffer and catalyze the stress–burnout and burnout–well-being associations, respectively, in sport. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the concomitant associations of athlete perceptions of social support and negative social interactions with burnout and well-being when empirically-specified psychosocial variables were taken into account. Employing a cross-sectional design, Study 1 examined the associations of multiple types of teammate social support with athlete burnout and self-determined motivation in a sample of 235 collegiate athletes. Results showed perceptions of support satisfaction and perceived (but not received) support to be significantly associated with athlete burnout and self-determined motivation, a proximal well-being correlate. Adopting a longitudinal study design with a sample of 465 collegiate athletes, Study 2 examined social support and negative social interactions as potential moderators of the perceived stress-athlete burnout relationship when accounting for trait negative affect and athlete motivation. Results showed perceived stress and athlete social interactions to individually contribute to global burnout and exhaustion (but not reduced accomplishment and sport devaluation) across the competitive season. No moderation effects were supported. Using the same design and sample, Study 3 examined social support and negative social interactions as potential moderators of the athlete-burnout–well-being relationship when accounting for trait optimism. Results showed athlete burnout, social support, and negative social interactions to distinctly predict athlete well-being across the competitive season. No moderation was supported but the athlete burnout–well-being relationship was found to differ across athletes. Finally, in an exploratory effort, the potential existence of person-centered burnout profiles was explored in a sub-sample of 129 athletes. Similar profiles were found across time points that were largely characterized by similar scores on all burnout dimensions. Resulting profiles, which were distinguishable based on athlete social interactions, did not correspond with extant views on burnout development but did highlight a small sample of "burned-out" cases. Collectively, this dissertation showcases the importance of social support and negative social interactions to athlete burnout and well-being using both cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs and both variable- and person-centered data analytic approaches. Building on these findings, continued empirical examination of the relationships of sport-based social interactions with athlete burnout and well-being represents a fruitful research endeavor of important theoretical and practical benefit.