Teammate communication, loneliness, and contagion of athlete burnout

Communication among teammates can influence sport experiences of athletes, including burnout. This might occur through sharing of burnout perceptions, fostering development of burnout perceptions in teammates (i.e., contagion). Contagion of burnout may depend on communication frequency with teammates as well as intrapersonal social constructs like loneliness, which can impact attentiveness to or interpretation of communication from others. Our study purpose was to (a) examine if exposure to teammate burnout predicted athlete burnout later in the season and (b) examine if loneliness moderated this relationship. Twice across their season, adolescent softball and baseball athletes (N = 176; 15 teams) completed two network questions about the frequency of speaking with teammates and closest friends on the team, respectively, and established measures of loneliness and burnout. Hierarchical linear regression models were estimated, one for each network question, for global burnout and burnout dimensions. Initial burnout perceptions (βs = .58-.72, ps < 0.001) predicted burnout perceptions at time two. Loneliness (βs = .15-.20 p ≤ 0.05) predicted global, exhaustion, and reduced accomplishment burnout perceptions at time two. Exposure to teammates' global burnout (β = .12, p ≤ 0.05) predicted global burnout perceptions at time two. Exposure to closest friends' burnout did not predict burnout at time two and loneliness did not moderate exposure-burnout relationships. Results offered some support for burnout contagion among adolescent athletes through spoken communication with teammates at practice. Future work should examine communication content to assess if and how particular messages from teammates contribute to athlete burnout perceptions.