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Effects of basic psychological needs on Chinese youth athlete burnout under coach burnout: Using hierarchical linear
Jiale Zhong1, Qiyi Wang2, Hanshuo Bao3
1Department of Physical Education, Yongin University, Yongin, South Korea.
Abstract:
Under China's elite athlete development system, the result-oriented and high-intensity training often exposes young athletes to many risks, which can easily lead to athlete burnout (AB). While previous research has identified numerous individual-level antecedents of AB, limited attention has been paid to how coach burnout (CB), operating at the organizational level, may contribute to AB in individual level. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory and employing Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), this study examined the influence of basic psychological needs and CB on AB among 938 athletes (Mage = 17.47, SD = 1.11) and their 34 Chief coaches from provincial sports teams in China. At the individual level, autonomy was found to be a significant negative predictor of AB (γ = -0.11, t = -2.34, p < .05), whereas competence and relatedness showed no significant predictive effect. At the organizational level, Cross-level analysis indicated that CB significantly and positively predicted AB (γ = 0.53, t = 8.33, p < .001), and significantly moderated the relationship between relatedness and AB in a positive direction (γ = 0.17, t = 2.57, p < .05). These findings underscore the critical role of autonomy in mitigating AB and highlight CB as both a direct and moderating factor in Chinese youth athlete psychological health. To effectively prevent burnout in youth athletes, sports organizations should address both coach well-being and athletes' basic psychological needs by implementing regular coach training programs and fostering stronger coach-athlete relationships.
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