Influence of basic psychological needs over burnout in the sport context

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship among basic psychological needs and burnout in a sample of athletes (N = 639). It was hypothesized that psychological needs satisfaction was negatively associated with burnout syndrome and the frustration of these needs related positively. Burnout was measured with the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ), satisfaction of basic psychological needs with the Basic Needs Satisfaction in Sport Scale (BNSSS), and frustration with the Psychological Needs Thwarting Scale (PNTS). Data analysis was conducted under the approach of structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that satisfaction of basic psychological needs had a negative direct effect on burnout of -0.67 (p < 0.001) while the frustration of these needs had a direct effect of 0.18 (p < 0.001). In addition, the total model explained 59% of the total variance of burnout. All individual parameters of the model were statistically significant and the overall fit of the model was satisfactory. It can be concluded that satisfying the basic psychological needs of the athletes can protect them against burnout.