The Mediating Role of Rumination in the Relationship Between Mindful Awareness and Athlete Burnout

This study aimed to examine whether rumination statistically accounts for the indirect association between mindfulness and burnout among athletes using a quantitative, cross-sectional, and non-interventional research design.

The sample consisted of 484 licensed athletes (157 females, 32.4%; 327 males, 67.6%) actively involved in team sports, individual sports, and e-sports in Istanbul during the 2024-2025 period. Data were collected using the Athlete Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Sport Competition Rumination Scale, and the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS 25 and Hayes' PROCESS Macro (Model 4), and mediation effects were tested using a bootstrap procedure with 5000 resamples and 95% confidence intervals.

The findings revealed significant relationships among mindfulness, rumination, and burnout. Mindfulness was positively associated with rumination, and rumination was significantly associated with athlete burnout. Furthermore, when rumination was included in the model, the direct relationship between mindfulness and burnout became non-significant. Given the cross-sectional nature of the study, the findings should be interpreted as relational rather than causal.

In conclusion, the findings suggest that the relationship between mindfulness and burnout may be indirectly shaped through ruminative cognitive processes depending on contextual and cognitive-regulatory factors. The results further suggest that the associations between mindfulness, rumination, and burnout may vary according to competitive context and individual cognitive processing patterns.