Wang Le, Lian Hongye
Department of Physical Education, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Ice and Snow Sports System, Hebei Sport University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 22;16:1615274. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1615274. eCollection 2025.
Competitive sport often imposes significant physical and psychological stress, making athlete burnout a primary concern. This mixed-methods study investigated the interplay of goal orientation, coach-athlete relationship (CAR) quality, and athlete burnout among Chinese collegiate athletes, considering unique cultural and systemic pressures.
A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative phase surveyed 346 athletes (M = 20.6 years) across five Chinese provinces using the TEOSQ (Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire), CART-Q (Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire), and RED-A (Reduced Exhaustion Depression and Reduced Accomplishment Scale). Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with a purposive subsample of 28 diverse athletes, which underwent thematic analysis.
Quantitative findings indicated that task orientation, CAR closeness, and complementarity were significant negative predictors of all burnout dimensions ( < 0.05). Ego orientation uniquely predicted higher cynicism ( = 0.15, = 0.005). Significant interactions were observed: high closeness was associated with a weaker positive link between ego orientation and cynicism, and high complementarity was associated with an enhanced protective effect of task orientation on reduced accomplishment. CAR commitment did not emerge as a unique predictive factor. Qualitative themes elaborated on these findings, highlighting how performance pressures were associated with goal orientation (e.g., ego orientation linked to cynicism via perceived system barriers) and the importance of specific functional CAR aspects (e.g., complementarity fostering competence, closeness associated with buffering life stress). Interpretations of hardship (specifically "chī kǔ") also related to task focus and its protective role.
The findings underscore that athlete burnout in this context is shaped by motivational orientations and specific relational dynamics within unique cultural and systemic pressures. This suggests that effective interventions should target both individual (e.g., promoting task orientation) and relational factors (e.g., enhancing CAR closeness and complementarity).
竞技运动常常带来巨大的身体和心理压力，这使得运动员倦怠成为一个主要问题。考虑到独特的文化和系统压力，这项混合方法研究调查了中国大学生运动员的目标定向、教练-运动员关系（CAR）质量与运动员倦怠之间的相互作用。
采用了顺序解释性混合方法设计。定量阶段使用运动中的任务和自我定向问卷（TEOSQ）、教练-运动员关系问卷（CART-Q）和简化疲惫抑郁与成就降低量表（RED-A），对中国五个省份的346名运动员（平均年龄M = 20.6岁）进行了调查。数据采用分层回归分析。定性阶段对28名不同运动员的目的性子样本进行了半结构化访谈，并进行了主题分析。
定量研究结果表明，任务定向、CAR亲密性和互补性是所有倦怠维度的显著负向预测因素（p < 0.05）。自我定向独特地预测了更高的玩世不恭（β = 0.15，p = 0.005）。观察到显著的交互作用：高亲密性与自我定向和玩世不恭之间较弱的正向联系相关，高互补性与任务定向对成就降低的增强保护作用相关。CAR承诺并未成为一个独特的预测因素。定性主题阐述了这些发现，强调了表现压力如何与目标定向相关（例如，自我定向通过感知到的系统障碍与玩世不恭相关）以及特定功能性CAR方面的重要性（例如，互补性促进能力，亲密性与缓冲生活压力相关）。对艰苦（特别是“吃苦”）的理解也与任务关注及其保护作用相关。
研究结果强调，在这种背景下，运动员倦怠是由独特文化和系统压力下的动机取向和特定关系动态所塑造的。这表明有效的干预措施应针对个体因素（例如，促进任务定向）和关系因素（例如，增强CAR亲密性和互补性）。
