The relationship between burnout, motivation, and exercise habits in retired college athletes

Abstract

The effect of sport burnout on retired college athletes has not been widely researched. However, there are several studies that show sport burnout is present in athletes and can be influenced by different factors, including motivation. Also, studies have shown that physical activity plays an important role in any college aged person and can decrease in former college athletes in retirement. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to review athlete burnout, motivation, specialization, and exercise habits in retired college athletes. Participants, recently retired within two years and played at least one full season filled out the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ), International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ-SF), Sport Motivation Scale (SMS), and demographic questionnaires voluntarily. Athletes were recruited via email blast to the UCO student body. Pearson’s Product Momentum Correlation was conducted to see if there was any relationship between the variables. A significant relationship did not exist between any of the variables (p > .05); therefore, a multiple regression was not used to further analyze. The researcher hypothesized that motivation would show a strong relationship with exercise habits, burnout would show a strong relationship with decreased exercise habits, and sports specialization would show a strong relationship with decreased exercise habits and increased burnout in retired college athletes. The researcher concluded there was no relationship between burnout, motivation, specialization, and exercise habits in this population. Further research is suggested to investigate other relationships like coach’s influence on burnout and observing burnout at different points of athlete’s careers.