Burnout in professional soccer players: the role of aggression and anxiety

Burnout is a complex syndrome and it can be caused by cognitive, physiological, behavioral and situational influences of excessive stress as well as personal factors. Although it can be seen in all professions, it has been mainly associated with sports, especially with soccer for the last 10 years. The purpose of this study was to determine predictors of player’ burnout levels related to age, marital status, education level, league level, position, and to determine the relationship between competition anxiety, competitive state anxiety and aggression of players Participants were 554 professional male soccer players with a mean age of 24.40 + 2.88 years, completed the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire. Sport Competition Anxiety Test, The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 and Aggression Inventory were used. A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to predict burnout from anxiety and aggression. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated that age of the athletes (β = .23; t = 5.02; p < .01), competition anxiety (β = .19; t = 4.45; p < .01) and competitive state anxiety (β = .23; t = 5.43; p < .01) were significant predictors of players` burnout levels. Although aggression levels were insignificant predictor of athletic burnout. The current study has provided a good basis for identifying variables that may be associated with the players, but further research needs to be conducted with players in order to better understand the development of burnout in these populations.