Exploring the relationship between burnout and mental health in elite athletes: the role of moderators

The strain of intense competition at the very highest performance levels can sometimes compromise athletes’ health. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the associations between burnout and mental health in elite athletes is an important endeavor in sport psychology. The goal of the present research was to examine how selected moderators are associated with burnout and mental health in elite athletes. One hundred and eighty-one elite athletes completed a survey assessing potential burnout, coach identity leadership, and mental health. The results showed that if athletes perceived their coach to be engaging in identity leadership and they were performing in a team sport, this buffered the impact of burnout on their mental health. At the same time, competing at a higher competitive level and being trained by a coach for a longer period (more than 2.8 seasons) increased the effect of burnout on athletes’ mental health. This suggests that elite athletes who are involved in individual sports and who have long relationships with their coaches may be particularly vulnerable to mental health problems.