203 Towards Prevention of Athlete Burnout in Japanese Adolescent Soccer Players

Abstract

This study investigated the associations between potential early signs and athlete burnout dimensions measured simultaneously, and between potential early signs measured at the beginning of the season and burnout dimensions measured at the end of the season. The sample comprised of 144 collegiate male soccer players (M= 20.0years, SD= ±1.3) from Japan. They completed Japanese version of two quantitative questionnaires: Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2001) to measure burnout dimensions and Potential Early Signs of athlete burnout (Cresswell & Eklund, 2004) to measure five early signs: money hassles, sport-related hassles, social support, competence, and control items. The results exhibited Japanese soccer players scoring significantly higher values in reduced accomplishments compared to previous studies. In addition, significant positive relationship between perceived sport-related hassles and burnout dimensions was indicated, whereas perceived social support, competence and control illustrated negative relationships. Future studies should examine the process of how the perception of potential early signs lead to burnout.