Motivation, overtraining, and burnout: Can selfdetermined motivation predict overtraining and burnout in elite athletes?

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1 European Journal of Sport Science ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: Motivation, overtraining, and burnout: Can selfdetermined motivation predict overtraining and burnout in elite athletes? Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre, Glyn C. Roberts & Jim Stray-Gundersen To cite this article: Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre, Glyn C. Roberts & Jim Stray-Gundersen (2007) Motivation, overtraining, and burnout: Can self-determined motivation predict overtraining and burnout in elite athletes?, European Journal of Sport Science, 7:2, , DOI: / To link to this article: Published online: 02 Aug Submit your article to this journal Article views: 8725 View related articles Citing articles: 39 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

2 European Journal of Sport Science, June 2007; 7(2): ORIGINAL ARTICLE Motivation, overtraining, and burnout: Can self-determined motivation predict overtraining and burnout in elite athletes? PIERRE-NICOLAS LEMYRE, GLYN C. ROBERTS, & JIM STRAY-GUNDERSEN Norwegian University of Sport Science, Oslo, Norway Abstract The aim of this study was to determine whether quality of self-determined motivation at the start of the competitive season in elite athletes and symptoms of overtraining can predict athlete burnout propensity at the end of the season. The participants were 141 elite winter sport athletes. In September, at the beginning of the season, the athletes responded to a self-determined motivation questionnaire, while they answered questions assessing overtraining symptoms and burnout in March, at the end of the season. Findings indicated that self-determined motivation and symptoms of overtraining were negatively and positively linked respectively to dimensions of athlete burnout. The results suggest that self-determined motivation and symptoms of overtraining are both independently linked to signs of burnout in elite athletes and that although no moderating effect was found, pairing self-determined motivation with symptoms of overtraining increased the prediction of burnout in athletes at the end of the season. Our findings are in line with those of recent research (Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre, Treasure, & Roberts, 2006) and support a motivational approach to study burnout in elite athletes. Keywords: Self-determination, burnout, motivation, sport Introduction Exceptional physical features, together with high commitment and motivation, are important attributes of high-performing athletes. However, when faced with frustrating setbacks, the same qualities of commitment and motivation that have elevated them above the competition can become their worst enemy (Hall, Cawthraw, & Kerr, 1997). It is common for elite athletes, especially young and idealistic competitors, to push themselves too far, overreach, and experience extreme tiredness on a regular basis and never realize their full potential or achievement capability because of excessive training and insufficient recovery (Gould & Dieffenbach, 2002; Kellmann, 2002; Meeusen et al., 2006). Unfortunately, many of these athletes leave the sport disheartened. In the quest to develop robust intervention mechanisms to help elite athletes steer away from the negative sport experience outcomes of overtraining and burnout, we investigates the relationship between quality of motivation (within the self-determination theory framework; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002), the symptoms of overtraining syndrome (Meeusen et al., 2006; Stray-Gundersen, 2001), and dimensions of athlete burnout (i.e. emotional and physical exhaustion, devaluation of sport participation, and reduced sense of accomplishment; Raedeke & Smith, 2001). This study is innovative because it assesses initial quality of motivation to determine the relationship between motivational variables to maladaptive training adaptation (i.e. symptoms of overtraining syndrome) and burnout in a sample of elite. In the section that follows, we examine hypothesized overtraining mechanisms and symptoms, the multidimensional nature of athlete burnout, the role of sport self-determined motivation, as well as the specific goals and hypotheses of this study. Overtraining and athlete burnout When surveying the published literature on overtraining and athlete burnout, there has been no Correspondence: P.-N. Lemyre, Norwegian University of Sport Science, P.B Ullevål Stadion, 0806 Oslo, Norway. nicolas.lemyre@nih.no ISSN print/issn online # 2007 European College of Sport Science DOI: /

3 116 P.-N. Lemyre et al. international standardized terminology. Consequently, the interpretation of research findings has suffered from the absence of clear diagnosis criteria (Halson & Jeukendrup, 2004; Hooper & Mackinnon, 1995). In the quest to remedy this unfortunate lack of clarity, Meeusen and colleagues (2006) have recently published a position statement from the European College of Sport Science on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the overtraining syndrome. Overtraining. When defining overtraining, it is important to differentiate it from overreaching. Overreaching is a transient state of performance incompetence, deemed a deliberate part of the training and recovery process needed to achieve good performances (Lehmann, Foster, Gastmann, Keizer, & Steinacker, 1999). This short-term lowered performance capacity state can be restored with the help of a brief recovery period. Meeusen and colleagues (2006) argue that there are two forms of overreaching, one that is functional and the other that is non-functional, Whereas functional overreaching is believed to lead to an increase in performance after adequate recovery, non-functional overreaching results from a combination of excessive overload and inadequate recovery leading to severe psychological and physiological symptoms. The distinction between non-functional overreaching and overtraining syndrome is difficult, but in general the symptoms for overtraining syndrome are thought to be more severe. For the purpose of this study, non-functional overreaching and overtraining syndrome will be referred to as overtraining and will be defined as a non-deliberate long-term decrement in performance capacity resulting from a failure to recover adequately from an accumulation of training and non-training stress (Budgett, 1998). Key clinical symptoms of overtraining are prolonged fatigue and performance decrement (Meeusen et al., 2006). Thus, overtraining can occur following a decrease in training-adaptation, but again the underlying mechanism explaining this phenomenon is not well understood. Other important overtraining symptoms are general apathy, disturbed sleep, loss of appetite, irritability, feelings of exhaustion, and increased vulnerability to injuries (e.g. Kuipers & Keizer, 1988; Steinacker & Lehmann, 2002; Uusitalo, 2001). Most clinical problems of overtraining have been observed in athletes training with a metabolic load of more than 4000 kcal day 1, and are hypothesized to be reflected by a prolonged maladaptation of several biological, neurochemical, and hormonal regulation mechanisms (Kellmann, 2002; Meeusen et al., 2006). Restoration of performance capacity can take from several weeks to several months (Kreider, Fry, & O Toole, 1998). The problem of overtraining in elite sport is a growing concern. In surveys of US Olympians competing at the Atlanta and Nagano Games, 28% and 10% of the athletes respectively reported that they were overtrained, resulting in significant underperformance at the Games (Gould & Dieffenbach, 2002; Gould, Guinan, Greenleaf, Medbery & Peterson, 1999).When asked to identify causes and symptoms for their overtraining, college swimmers cited: too much stress and pressure; too much training; physical exhaustion and soreness; boredom because of endless repetition; and poor rest and lack of sleep (Raglin & Morgan, 1989). Overtraining is a serious chronic condition and its eradication is a real challenge. Burnout. Recently, it has been suggested that overtraining and burnout share diagnosis characteristics such as impaired performance, fatigue, exhaustion, and mood disturbance (Kenttä & Hassmén, 2002). However, the assumption is that when an athlete is overtrained, motivation remains, whereas the burned-out athlete will typically show signs of demotivation, sport devaluation, and express cynicism. When athletes suffer from burnout, they typically experience chronic fatigue, poor sleep patterns, episodes of depression and helplessness. Not surprisingly, their performance is considerably impaired. Full recovery from burnout represents a complex process that can take several months or even years. Until recently, the few empirical studies investigating athlete burnout had relied on conceptually focused measurement tools derived from the health sector. In an effort to generate a much needed conceptual base to promote research development, Raedeke (1997; Raedeke & Smith, 2001) has provided us with a conceptual definition of athlete burnout. Raedeke s work is based on Maslach s (1993; Maslach & Jackson, 1981, 1984) definition of burnout in human service providers. Athlete burnout is a multidimensional syndrome characterized by emotional and physical exhaustion, devaluation of sport participation, and a reduced sense of accomplishment. Emotional and physical exhaustion are associated with the intense demands of training and competing. In addition to being characterized by an important loss of emotional and physical energy, athlete burnout implies a negative assessment of the athlete s self (i.e. reduced sense of accomplishment) and sport experience (i.e. devaluation of sport participation). Pines (1993, p. 41) suggested that: only highly motivated individuals can burn out. In other words, in order to burn out, one has to first be on fire. A

4 Motivation, overtraining, and burnout 117 person with no such initial motivation can experience stress, alienation, depression, an existential crisis, or fatigue, but not burnout. Motivational issues are at the core of the athlete burnout problem. If motivation can contribute to burnout, then investigating the dynamics of motivation might help us understand the motivational determinants of burnout. One theory that may contribute to our understanding of burnout is selfdetermination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Selfdetermination theory argues that the quality of motivation of an athlete ranges from a more selfdetermined to a less self-determined source of motivation. It may be hypothesized that when motivation is highly self-determined, the athlete will likely perceive more control over his or her own behaviour, and motivation is expected to be adaptive. On the other hand, when motivation is not self-determined and the athlete s behaviour is externally regulated, the athlete will perceive less control over his or her own sport participation, which will lead to maladaptive achievement outcomes such as performance impairment and lethargy, as well as feelings of emotional and physical exhaustion, all key symptoms of overtraining and athlete burnout (i.e. Creswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre, Treasure, & Roberts, 2006). Self-determination Self-determination refers to the experience of choice in the process of intentionality of behaviours. According to self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991, 2002), individuals performing a sporting activity by choice and for pleasure demonstrate intrinsically motivated and self-regulated behaviour. An activity is intrinsically motivated, self-determined, and autonomous when the activity is freely experienced and self-sanctioned. Sources of motivation internalized by athletes are assumed to be adaptive for achievement (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002). However, motivation can have external sources. Individuals performing a sporting activity for external reasons demonstrate extrinsically motivated behaviour that is not self-regulated. When this is the case, individuals do not feel autonomous (DeCharms, 1968). Extrinsically motivated behaviours are assumed to have three dimensions presented on a continuum of higher to lower self-determination: namely, identified regulation, introjected regulation, and external regulation (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). When an athlete learns to value an activity and identifies with the importance of it over time, then that athlete is assumed to be motivated by identified regulation. This form of regulation is less self-determined than intrinsic motivation, as the athlete recognizes that he or she should engage in the activity for his or her own benefit. When an athlete feels inner pressures to perform, such as guilt, then he or she is assumed to be motivated by introjected regulation. The athlete recognizes that he or she ought to engage in the activity. When the athlete feels controlled by external factors, such as the coach or parents, then the athlete is motivated by external regulation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Finally, at the end of the self-determination continuum, we find amotivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). When amotivated, individuals participate in an activity without valuing it, typically feeling that the action is out of their control. When investigating motivation in sport, self-determination theory has been used to explain how perceived initiation of behaviour influences subsequent level and quality of motivation (Vallerand, 2001). Adaptive and maladaptive performance outcomes are assumed to follow variation in motivation intensity and quality. The self-determination continuum is dynamic and very appealing as it allows the study of the origin of an athlete s motivation as an indicator of the quality of this motivation. It is argued here that differences in the quality of motivation could affect subsequent training adaptation in elite athletes. The more self-determined the motivation, the less likely the athlete will experience symptoms of burnout. Recent research findings within the sport domain (i.e. Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre et al., 2006), as well as within vocational and educational psychology (i.e. Frenet, Guay, & Senécal, 2004; Vallerand, Fortier & Guay, 1997), have linked differences in self-determined motivation to maladaptive outcomes such as athlete burnout, high school drop-out, and burnout in academic personnel. Identifying and understanding the motivational determinants of burnout in elite athletes is a key step in the design of an intervention programme to prevent their occurrence (Lemyre et al., 2006; Raedeke & Smith, 2001). Aim of the study Consistent with research findings linking external sources of motivation to athlete burnout (Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Hall et al., 1997; Lemyre et al., 2006; Raedeke, 1997; Raedeke & Smith, 2001), and the suggestion that physical adversity resulting in symptoms of overtraining may contribute to the onset of athlete burnout (Frenet et al., 2004; Gould, Tuffey, Udry, & Loehr, 1996a, 1996b), the aim of the current study was to investigate prospectively links between the quality of self-determined motivation at the start of the competitive season, and overtraining symptoms and athlete burnout at the end of the season, for elite winter athletes. First, we

5 118 P.-N. Lemyre et al. examined the propensity to overtraining symptoms and burnout in elite winter sport athletes. Second, we investigated the relationship between subjective clinical symptoms of overtraining and signs of athlete burnout. Finally, we assessed using self-determined motivation at the start of the season and overtraining symptoms, independently and combined, as predictors of burnout dimensions in elite athletes at the end of the season. Hypotheses Based on the assumption that self-determined motivation is meaningfully linked to successful training adaptation, leading to high-quality performance in an achievement setting (i.e. Frenet et al., 2004), such as elite sports, we hypothesized that: 1. Self-determined motivation and overtraining symptoms are negatively related to each other. 2a. Self-determined motivation at the start of the season is negatively associated with emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced sport sense of accomplishment, and devaluation of sport participation 2b. Overtraining symptoms are positively linked to emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced sport sense of accomplishment, and devaluation of sport participation 3. Self-determined motivation moderates the effect of overtraining symptoms on burnout in that athletes high in self-determined motivation will show lower burnout at the end of the season than athletes low in self-determined motivation despite reporting symptoms of overtraining. Methods Participants and procedure The participants were 141 athletes (81 males, 60 females) aged 1732 years (mean 20.1 years, s4.8) competing in Nordic skiing, alpine skiing, biathlon, speed skating, and Nordic combined. Thirty-two percent of the participants (n 45) were 2002 Winter Olympic team athletes and 68% (n 96) were junior elite athletes studying at a national sport academy. More than half of the participants (52%) reported having previously competed at the Junior World Championships, or the World Cup or Senior World Championships. The five winter sports represented in this study were chosen because of their similarities in energy demands and for their status within the national sport culture arena. An information package, including a letter written by the head of the research programme at the National Olympic Committee supporting the significance and goals of the project, was sent by mail by the senior author to targeted team officials. Within a week of sending the letters, officials were contacted by telephone or to ask if they were interested in participating in the study. Officials from the national teams who wished to collaborate were asked to arrange a meeting between the investigator and the athletes. During three weeks in September, the first author travelled within Norway, at training camps and test sites, to offer additional information and administer the pre-season questionnaire investigating athletes motivational profiles. Data collection for junior athletes at sport academies was organized by telephone between the first author and collaborating school officials. School officials received an envelope sent by mail containing information packages and letters of consent to be completed by the participants. Parental consent was requested for under-age athletes. In an effort to make the data collection procedures as similar as possible, detailed guidelines were provided and a list of instructions was given to each athlete to read. Before completing the first questionnaire, all participants were notified that participation in the study was voluntary and that they could withdraw at any time without being penalized. For the second data collection, team and sport academy officials were contacted by telephone within two weeks of the end of the official winter season. Reminder letters of the guidelines, goals, and pertinence of the study, together with follow-up questionnaires investigating symptoms of overtraining and signs of burnout, were sent by mail to the sport academy officials. The junior athletes were administered the second questionnaire in a classroom setting under the supervision of a school official. A register of the addresses of the Olympic athletes was provided by the National Olympic Committee, who authorized contact with the athletes by telephone. Questionnaires, as well as preaddressed and pre-stamped return envelopes, were sent directly to the home of each participating Olympic athlete. Within four weeks, 11 Olympic athletes were reminded by the senior author to complete the second questionnaire. The drop-out rate between September and the March follow-up was 33%. In total, 211 athletes participated in the original data collection (144 junior and 67 Olympic athletes), while 141 (96 junior and 45 Olympic athletes) completed the final questionnaire. To ensure that the athletes and coaches were informed of the main research findings, they were promised a written report and an invitation to an informational presentation at the end of the study.

6 Motivation, overtraining, and burnout 119 Measures Self-determined motivation. In September, a Norwegian translation of the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS; Pelletier et al., 1995) was used to assess selfdetermined motivation in sport. The translation was accomplished using a double translation-backtranslation technique with the help of fluent Englishand Norwegian-speaking colleagues. The scale is a 28-item sport-specific measure. The stem for each question was: Why do you practise your sport? Athletes were then requested to rate the extent to which the items explained their participation motives on a 7-point Likert scale anchored by strongly disagree (1) and strongly agree (7). The SMS consists of seven 4-item subscales. These seven subscales assess, respectively: (1) Intrinsic Motivation to Know (IM Knowledge; e.g. For the pleasure it gives me to know more about the sport I compete in ); (2) Intrinsic Motivation to Accomplish (IM Accomplishment; e.g. Because I feel a lot of personal satisfaction when mastering certain difficult training techniques ); (3) Intrinsic Motivation to Experience Stimulation (IM Stimulation; e.g. For the pleasure I have in experiencing excitement ); (4) Identified Regulation (e.g. Because it s one of the best ways I have chosen to develop other aspects of myself ); (5) Introjected Regulation (e.g. Because I must do my sport to feel good about myself ); (6) External Regulation (e.g. To show others how good I am at my sport ); and (7) Amotivation (e.g. I used to have good reasons for participating in my sport, but now I am asking myself if I should continue doing it ). To test our hypotheses, we computed an index of self-determined sport motivation (SDI). The SDI integrates scores on each motivation subscale into a single score corresponding to the participant s position on a self-determination continuum, thus reducing the number of variables in the analyses. Common guidelines found in the SDT literature were followed (e.g. Frenet et al., 2004; Vallerand et al., 1997; Vallerand & Rousseau, 2001) and the following formula was used: [(2*(IM knowledgeim accomplishment IM stimulation)/31*identified Regulation] [(1*Introjected Regulation1*External Regulation)/22*Amotivation]. Following the translation-back-translation process, reliability analyses were conducted on all seven of the SMS subscales. Reliability analyses yielded alpha scores ranging from 0.70 to 0.82 for all seven SMS subscales. Overtraining symptoms. An important void exists in measurement and diagnostic tools to investigate overtraining in elite athletes. Inspired by general guidelines and monitoring suggestions available in the sport science literature (e.g. Kellmann, 2002; Meeusen et al., 2006), we opted to include typical diagnostic questions used by the medical community as a preliminary Short Overtraining Symptoms Questionnaire (SOSQ). The SOSQ was put together based on a research protocol used by the staff at the National Olympic Training Centre to identify elite athletes suffering from overtraining syndrome (Stray-Gundersen, 2001). These items have been identified as clinical overtraining symptoms in previous research and current research-based reviews on the topic (e.g. Kuipers & Keizer, 1988; Uusitalo, 2001; Kellmann, 2002; Steinacker & Lehmann, 2002; Meeusen et al., 2006). Five questions corresponding to these symptoms were used to investigate perceived symptoms of overtraining. For the set of SOSQ questions, participants responded to the stem: Express how you have felt lately. Each question was answered on a 10-point Likert scale anchored by the terms very bad (1) and very good (10). Based on previous research findings (e.g. Kellmann, 2002), five items were used to examine the following: (1) sleep quality ( How well have you slept lately? ); (2) appetite ( How has your appetite been lately? ); (3) energy ( How have your energy levels been for the past 2 months? ); (4) training desire ( How has your training desire been lately? ); and (5) training quality ( How has the quality of your training been lately? ). Three additional questions investigating susceptibility to illness and overuse injuries were included in the original SOSQ completed by the participants but were removed from the final scale analyses. Despite being commonly cited as key symptoms of overtraining in popular literature, so far research has failed to support the link between these symptoms and overtraining (Viru & Viru, 2001). Because the present study employed a pilot version of the SOSQ, factor analyses (principal components with both varimax and oblique rotations; the number of factors was not specified) were conducted to ascertain the factor structure (one-dimensional or multi-dimensional) revealed by the five items corresponding to the overtraining symptoms investigated. One factor with an eigenvalue greater than 1 emerged, and accounted for 52% of the variance, supporting a one-dimensional SOSQ. Reliability analyses were conducted to ensure internal consistency of the SOSQ (appetite, energy, training motivation, and training quality). Internal consistency of the SOSQ (a 0.76) was deemed satisfactory. Burnout. A translated version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke & Smith, 2001) was used to complete the package. This 15-item sportspecific measure was translated using a double translation-back-translation technique. The stem

7 120 P.-N. Lemyre et al. for each question was How often do you feel this way? Athletes were requested to rate the extent to which the items referred to their participation motives on a 7-point Likert scale anchored by almost never (1) and almost always (7). The ABQ has three 5-item subscales assessing three key dimensions of burnout: (1) Reduced Sense of Accomplishment (ABQ-RA; e.g. It seems that no matter what I do, I don t perform as well as I should ); (2) Emotional and Physical Exhaustion (ABQ-EX; e.g. I feel so tired from my training that I have trouble finding energy to do other things ); (3) Devaluation of Sport Participation (ABQ-DV; e.g. The effort I spend participating in my sport would be better spent doing other things ). A total summed score for the ABQ (ABQ-T) is achieved by averaging all three subscale scores. Reliability analyses were conducted on the ABQ subscales. Internal consistency was computed for the Reduced Sense of Accomplishment (a0.82) and Emotional and Physical Exhaustion (a 0.81) subscales of the ABQ (Nunnally, 1978). The Sport Devaluation subscale was removed from further analyses because of insufficient reliability (DV a 0.65). Supported by theoretical arguments, the total burnout score used in this study was consisted of all 15 original items (a 0.87). quasi-simplex pattern of relationships for the nine administrations of the questionnaire. Specifically, those subscales adjacent along the self-determination continuum (e.g. external regulation and amotivation) were more positively correlated than the more distant ones (e.g. amotivation and intrinsic motivation). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to assess whether there were differences between the junior and Olympic athletes on the subscales. Results indicated that the juniors expressed slightly higher extrinsic motivation than the Olympic athletes. The current elite athlete population yielded relatively low scores on amotivation, thus most athletes presented a positive SDI score. However, the wide range of SDI responses suggests important differences in self-determined motivation within the groups. The SDI score range differences were greater for the junior (6.75 to 15.13) than for the Olympic athletes (2.46 to 14.54). Additionally, the juniors reported a similar incidence of overtraining symptoms, but scored higher than the Olympic athletes on all three of the burnout dimensions. Based on the significantly different scores between junior and Olympic athletes, each group was analysed independently in the subsequent statistical analyses (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Results Descriptive analyses The descriptive statistics are reported in Table I for junior and Olympic athletes. A mean substitution procedure was used to deal with missing data. Consistent with self-determination theory (Grolnick & Ryan, 1987) and previous research that has used a SDI in the context of sport (Lemyre et al., 2006; Standage et al., 2003), the correlations between the subscales generally conformed to a Correlation analyses Correlation analyses were used initially to examine the relationship between self-determined motivation, overtraining, and burnout dimensions in the junior (see Table II) and Olympic (see Table III) athletes. For the juniors, self-determined motivation at the start of the season in September showed no significant correlation with end-of-season overtraining symptoms. Self-determined motivation yielded negative moderate relationships with end-of-season burnout dimensions. Finally, the relationship between Table I. Descriptive statistics for self-motivation, overtraining, and burnout in junior elite and Olympic team athletes (mean9s). Variables Junior elite athletes (n96) Olympic team athletes (n45) Between-group difference (P) Scale Self-determination index (SDI) to 18 Intrinsic motivation to 7 Extrinsic motivation Identified regulation to 7 Introjected regulation to 7 External regulation to 7 Amotivation to 7 Short Overtraining Symptoms Questionnaire (SOSQ) to 10 Burnout Total score to 5 Emotional/physical exhaustion to 5 Reduced sense of accomplishment to 5

8 Table II. Correlations for self-determination, overtraining symptoms, and burnout dimensions, and descriptive statistics for junior elite athletes. Variables Self-determination index (SDI) a a a 2. Overtraining symptoms * a a a 3. Reduced sense of accomplishment * a a 4. Emotional and physical exhaustion * a 5. Total burnout score * a PB0.001; b PB0.05. Motivation, overtraining, and burnout 121 overtraining symptoms and burnout dimensions at the end of the season was positive and moderately high. For the Olympic athletes, bivariate correlation analyses failed to generate a significant relationship between self-determined motivation and overtraining symptoms in March. Relationships between overtraining symptoms and burnout dimensions were moderately high. Sequential regression analyses For each sub-sample, a series of hierarchical regression analyses (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001) was conducted on each of the two sub-dimensions as well as on the total ABQ summed score to determine if experiencing different levels of selfdetermined motivation in September improved the prediction of burnout at the end of the season beyond that provided by symptoms of overtraining. All scales were normalized before analyses. Sequential regression analyses were performed using SPSS REGRESSION. Three independent variables were entered in the sequential regression analyses: the first step contained symptoms of overtraining; the second step consisted of symptoms of overtraining and selfdetermined motivation; the third and last step contained the variables from the previous step as well as the interaction effect variable. To generate an overtraining self-determined motivation effect term, both variables were centred, and the variable was created by multiplying the two-centred predictors (Aiken & West, 1991). Consistent with the hypothesis that self-determined motivation at the start of the season adds to the predictive value of overtraining symptoms in predicting burnout at the end of the season, overtraining symptoms were entered as the first independent variable in the sequential multiple regression (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001) and the self-determined motivation index was entered as the second independent variable. Any variation in burnout explained by the self-determined motivation variable that had not already been explained by overtraining would appear in the second step. An interaction effect between selfdetermined motivation and overtraining symptoms would be visible in the third step, explaining any additional variation in burnout beyond that which overtraining symptoms and self-determined motivation accounted for, alone and independently. As seen in Table IV, when analysing the junior sample, symptoms of overtraining were positively linked and self-determined motivation was negatively linked to feeling a reduced sense of accomplishment as well as emotional and physical exhaustion. Self-determined motivation was negatively linked to both burnout dimensions. Total burnout was also significantly predicted by overtraining (R , F 1, , P B0.001). A significant increment in R 2 was found when adding self-determined motivation to the prediction model (R , F 2, , P B0.001). Regression analyses failed to reveal a significant interaction or moderating effect of self-determined motivation on overtraining symptoms in predicting feelings of reduced sense of accomplishment, emotional and physical exhaustion, or total burnout. Table III. Correlations for self-determination, overtraining symptoms, and burnout dimensions, and descriptive statistics for Olympic team athletes. Variables Self-determination index (SDI) Overtraining symptoms * a a a 3. Reduced sense of accomplishment * a a 4. Emotional and physical exhaustion * a 5. Total burnout score * a PB0.001; b PB0.05.

9 122 P.-N. Lemyre et al. Table IV. Sequential multiple regression of overtraining symptoms and self-determination on burnout dimensions for junior elite athletes Variables in equation Multi. R R 2 DR 2 P Beta Reduced Sense of Accomplishment Step1 Overtraining Step 2 Overtraining Self-determination index Step 3 Overtraining Self-determination Overtrainingself-determination index * n.s Emotional and Physical Exhaustion Step1 Overtraining Step 2 Overtraining Self-determination index Step 3 Overtraining Self-determination Overtrainingself-determination index n.s Total burnout score Step1 Overtraining Step 2 Overtraining Self-determination index Step 3 Overtraining Self-determination index Overtrainingself-determination index * n.s Regression analyses were used to investigate further the relationships between overtraining symptoms, self-determined motivation, and burnout dimensions in the Olympic sample. Findings revealed that while overtraining symptoms explained some variance in burnout dimensions (reduced sense of accomplishment: R , F 1, , P B 0.001; emotional and physical exhaustion, R , F 1, , P B0.001; total burnout score, R , F 1, , P B0.001), self-determined motivation as well as the interaction term failed to explain any additional variance in burnout dimensions in March. Discussion The present study examined the effect of selfdetermined motivation in predicting dimensions of burnout in elite athletes. The findings are discussed as follows: (a) methodological strengths and limitations of the study; (b) relationship between overtraining symptoms, self-determined motivation, and burnout dimensions for both junior elite athletes and Olympic team athletes; and (c) further research, implications, and conclusions. Methods and instruments Participants. An important attribute of the present study was the elite nature of the winter sport athletes. Both the senior athletes, who were on the Olympic team, and the junior athletes, who were involved in national development programmes, were exceptionally talented. However, an important limitation of working with elite athletes is the question of accessibility. In this study, even though access to an the athletes was facilitated by written support from the National Olympic Committee, many of the athletes that were approached at the beginning of the season could not be contacted again at the end of the season. Following the last competition, many athletes left for a vacation and many weeks elapsed before we could get contact them again. Concerned that any kind of post-season break could influence the athletes perception of overtraining symptoms and burnout, any athlete who did not complete the

10 Motivation, overtraining, and burnout 123 second questionnaire within 2 weeks of their last competition were not included in the study. Scales. To date, few research studies have used the SDI. Though no norm exists at this time as to what is considered high or low on the SDI, the singlescore index offers quick information about the motivation of an elite athlete on a scale with a low negative to high positive self-determined motivation score. The higher the positive index score, the more self-determined the motivation. The SOSQ was based on qualitative assessment methods currently used to help sport practitioners to diagnose overtraining in elite athletes. The singlefactor SOSQ proved to be reliable and accounted for 52% of behavioural variance. It is simple to administer and easy to interpret. Hence, the SOSQ offers a reliable tool to investigate symptoms of overtraining in further research with elite athletes. Adapted to sport from the original work of Maslach (1993; Maslach & Jackson, 1981, 1984), the original 15-item ABQ to measure symptoms of burnout (Readeke & Smith, 2001) is short and concise. The ABQ addresses three important aspects of burnout derived from Maslach s (1993) exploratory research on employees in a wide variety of people-oriented professions. Lower internal validity scores for the Norwegian version of the ABQ than those reported in Readeke and Smith s (2001) original work could suggest that the translated version should be reviewed to address any possible cultural ambiguities, as athlete burnout symptoms may be experienced differently by individuals from different cultures (Pines, 2004). Discrepancy in perceived competitive expectancy, from one sport to another and from one culture to another, between elite athletes and leisure sport participants may yield differences in burnout experiences. In addition, elite athletes are likely to express or interpret signs of burnout differently than non-elite athletes. Although the ABQ is not a diagnostic tool, it is a robust research tool to help understand better the nature of athlete burnout. Relationship between self-determined motivation, overtraining, and burnout As there were significant differences in the MAN- OVA analyses between the Olympic team athletes and junior elite athletes, we analysed the groups separately. First, we discuss the junior elite athletes. The findings with junior athletes did not support our first hypothesis, yielding a small but insignificant negative correlation between self-determined motivation in September and symptoms of overtraining at the end of the season. However, self-determined motivation in September was negatively linked to exhaustion, a reduced sense of accomplishment, and total burnout in March. In addition, the findings revealed a moderate but positive relationship between symptoms of overtraining and burnout dimensions, the two findings together supporting our second hypothesis (a and b). The findings with the junior athletes support the theoretical argument that self-determined motivation at the start of the season may represent a precursor of training maladaptation in elite athletes. To investigate this finding further, we conducted regression analyses. We were interested in whether self-determined motivation would contribute any additional variance to overtraining symptoms when predicting burnout. The assumption is that when an athlete is overtrained, motivation remains, whereas the burned out athlete will typically show signs of demotivation. That is what we found with the regression analyses. Whereas overtraining contributed most to the variance, the burnout dimensions contributed significantly. Significant changes in variance explained were registered when adding self-determined motivation to overtraining symptoms in predicting burnout. Thus, the prediction value of self-determined motivation is significant and consistent with the hypothesized predictive value of motivation. Results indicated that 15%, 6%, and 9% respectively of additional variance in exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and total burnout was explained by adding levels of self-determined motivation in September to overtraining symptoms in March. When self-determined motivation was low, the junior athletes were more likely to demonstrate dimensions of burnout at the end of the season! Thus the quality of motivation of the athletes in September contributed to the perception of burnout in March. This supports the recent findings of Creswell and Ecklund (2005) and Lemyre and colleagues (2006), who found that differences in self-determined motivation were associated with symptoms of burnout in professional rugby players and elite swimmers respectively. The relationship between symptoms of overtraining and perceptions of burnout is still imprecise. However, in the current study, we found that overtraining symptoms were positively associated with burnout dimensions. The mechanisms explaining how overtraining predisposes an athlete to risk of burnout remain unclear and demands further study. The results of the present study reveal that overtraining and self-determined motivation have their own unique contributions to burnout. However, the findings with the Olympic team athletes did not support our first two hypotheses. We found small negative, but insignificant, correlations between self-determined motivation and symptoms of overtraining at the end of the season, and

11 124 P.-N. Lemyre et al. self-determined motivation was negatively, but not significantly, correlated with burnout dimensions at the end of the season. Furthermore, results of the regression analyses with the Olympic athletes were in line findings from the correlation analyses no significant contribution was found for self-determined motivation to explain variance in burnout in March. Sample size may have influenced our findings and hindered us from finding similar relationship patterns between variables for both samples of athletes (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). However, other reasons can be speculated upon to help us understand better the onset of maladaptive achievement outcomes in elite athletes. Contextual factors are thought to have an important influence on individual motivation (Vallerand, 2001). The lack of a significant relationship between self-determined motivation in September and burnout scores at the end of the season may be explained by the unique context of Olympic participation. Olympic team athletes are already experiencing the psychological dividends of being on the Olympic team. This recognition of their ability reinforces the athletes commitment to their goal and supports high self-determined motivation (Vansteenkiste, Simons, Lens, Sheldon, & Deci, 2004). For the Olympic team athletes in the present study, at the time the data were collected (September), the Winter Olympics were still some time away and in this context any perceptions of a reduced sense of accomplishment or emotional and physical exhaustion were also still distant. Nonetheless, the differences between junior elite and Olympic team athletes in the present study demand follow-up research to determine the role of self-determined motivation and gain a better understanding of the factors prompting athlete burnout in elite sport. The clear relationship that emerged with the senior athletes was that between overtraining symptoms and burnout dimensions. The link was positive and revealed that overtraining symptoms could indeed be a precursor of burnout. However, caution is necessary when evaluating the strength of the predictive value of overtraining symptoms on athlete burnout, as data collection was performed simultaneously at the end of the season in March. Adopting a longitudinal design to address these limitations in future research may help us to understand better these mechanisms (e.g. Lemyre et al., 2006). Lastly, findings from the sequential regression analyses failed to support our third hypothesis that self-determined motivation moderates the effect of overtraining symptoms on burnout in elite athletes. The current findings suggest that self-determined motivation and overtraining have their own unique and direct effects on athlete burnout. Future research The generalizability of the current findings is somewhat limited by the small number of junior elite and Olympic team athletes studied. Although an important strength of this study was the very elite nature of the participants, assessing such a group of athletes led to restrictions in the study design. The researchers followed guidelines issued by the National Olympic Committee and national team athlete research protocol, which restricted the number of questions we were allowed to ask. At the time of the study, the National Olympic Committee did not allow multiple use of the same questionnaire for scientific research and restricted the times to which we had access to the Olympic athletes. In the future, sport governing bodies need to be convinced of the importance of allowing more flexible access to elite athletes to gain a better understanding of the factors that might place an athlete at risk for experiencing the debilitating symptoms of overtraining and burnout. Caution is necessary when evaluating the strength of the predictive value of symptoms of overtraining on athlete burnout as data collection was done simultaneously in March. Further research should adopt a longitudinal design to address these limitations. In addition, findings from the sequential regression analyses failed to support our third hypothesis that self-determined motivation moderates the effect of overtraining symptoms on burnout in elite athletes. This is somewhat surprising, since the data presented above supported a positive link between symptoms of overtraining and athlete burnout. However, interaction effects are notoriously difficult to detect in field research (McClelland & Judd, 1993). The current findings suggest that selfdetermined motivation and overtraining have a direct effect on athlete burnout and there is a need for future research to address the possibility that this weak relationship might partly have been an artefact of the self-determined motivation scores failing to capture the lower end of the self-determined continuum (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Findings from the current study highlight potential conceptual and theoretical considerations for future research. While theoretical reasons and the current findings may support a relationship between the initial quality of motivation in elite athletes and the development of ill-being causing maladaptive performance outcomes (Deci & Ryan, 2000), future research should consider longitudinal designs (Lemyre et al., 2006) and qualitative methods (Cresswell & Eklund, 2006) in athletes from different sports and competitive contexts to examine further how motivational shifts over time could represent a precursor of maladaptive performance outcomes and prompt an athlete to

12 Motivation, overtraining, and burnout 125 experience symptoms of overtraining and athlete burnout. Practical implications and conclusion Taken as a whole, this study supports the use of selfdetermination theory to help understand better the factors leading to maladaptive achievement outcomes in elite athletes (Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre et al., 2006). More specifically, our findings suggest that higher self-determined motivation seems to be adaptive for an elite athlete. In the current study, lower self-determined motivation at the start of the season was associated with signs of athlete burnout at the end of the season. It appears that being motivated to participate in elite sport for less self-determined reasons contributes to putting an athlete at risk of experiencing symptoms of burnout. 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