The Role of Athletesʼ Mindfulness in Alexithymia and Burnout

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship among athletesʼ mindfulness, alexithymia, and burnout.
The participants were 353 athletes (male=223, female=130, mean age=20.54, SD=5.74); they completed a questionnaire comprising the Athletes Mindfulness Questionnaire (AMQ), Sport Alexithymia Scale (SAS), and Burnout Scale for University Athletes (BOSA). The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated, and structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the relationship among AMQ, SAS, and BOSA.
The calculated Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients showed that the total AMQ score was significantly negatively correlated with SAS and BOSA. Furthermore, the total SAS score was significantly positively correlated with BOSA. The results of the structural equation modeling revealed good fit indices and explained 41% of the variance in SAS and 30% of the variance in BOSA. In the model, AMQ was directly associated with SAS and BOSA. AMQ was also indirectly associated with BOSA through SAS.
The results of this study confirmed that athletesʼ mindfulness directly and indirectly affected athletesʼ burnout by decreasing alexithymia. These results suggest that providing mindfulness training to athletes may be an effective intervention for alleviating their mental health problems.