Open AccessPredictors of well-being and burnout: the case of female professional footballers in the Netherlands
Author(s) -
Oliver Mason
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of sport, exercise and health research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2581-4923
DOI - 10.31254/sportmed.3201
Subject(s) - burnout , coaching , psychology , autonomy , vitality , competence (human resources) , emotional exhaustion , clinical psychology , athletes , social psychology , medicine , physical therapy , philosophy , theology , political science , law , psychotherapist
Background: Little is known about well-being and burnout in female professional soccer. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to delineate and predict these outcomes in female players in the Netherlands. Study design/setting: A cross-sectional study using validated self-report instruments assessed the basic emotional needs, work-life balance, coaching support and wellbeing/burnout in female professional football players. Materials and Methods: 67 players from across all nine Dutch Eredivisie league clubs completed a range of self-report measures. These assessed perceived coach autonomy support, work-life conflict, basic needs (for autonomy, competence and relatedness), subjective vitality and burnout on scales specific to elite athletes. Statistics/Results: These suggested that the environment in terms of coaching is broadly supportive for most individuals and is not leading to burnout and poor wellbeing across the sample. A minority of players were nevertheless identified to have significantly poor wellbeing and high levels of burnout. Conclusion: Consistent with basic need theory, poor wellbeing was predicted by several unmet needs, while burnout was predicted by both work-life conflict and unmet needs. There are clear implications that female professionals frequently experience high levels of work-life conflict