PSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTORS OF BURNOUT AMONG NORTHERN-CENTRAL NIGERIAN ELITE ATHLETES

Abstract

Burnout is a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic work-related stressors resulting from negative perception of the stressor. The study aimed to find the psychosocial predictors of burnout among elite athletes (M = 27.35years; ±4.12). Descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. Maslach Burnout Inventory and a researcher developed questionnaire was used to collect data. Percentages, mean and standard deviation was used to analyze demographic data, while correlation matrix was used to test hypotheses. Findings showed that conflict in values had a positive correlation (.282), while the years of experience did not (.093) in predicting burnout among elite athletes. with burnout. Athletes in North-Central Zone experience high levels of burnout, their duration in sports was not responsible for the high levels of burnout and conflict is value had a positive correlation with burnout and may have accounted for the high level of burnout. Creating a supportive training environment should be created to train and increase athlete’s enthusiasm towards sports