BURNOUT

Burnout is ‘‘a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion that results from long-term involvement in work situations that are emotionally demanding,’’ according to W. B. Schaufeli and E. R. Greenglass. In the CONTEXTof sport, it has been defined as ‘‘a psychological, EMOTIONAL, and physical withdrawal from a formerly pursued and enjoyable sport as a result of excessive STRESS which acts on the athlete over time.’’ This is the meaning offered by Daniel Gould et al. ‘‘It is the manifestation or consequence of the situational, cognitive, physiologic, and behavioral components of excessive stress.’’ Origins. Tage Kristensen et al. trace the origins of the concept to

the mid-1970s, when studies of volunteer workers with underprivileged people revealed a prevalence of exhaustion, depersonalization, and, importantly, a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. The syndrome-this being a group of associated, recurring symptoms-was later found to affect employees in human service work, including nurses, social workers, and teachers. While the symptoms of the sports version of burnout were the

same, the conditions under which it occurs were different. Its popular use was to describe the condition typically affecting teenage sports performers whose rise is sudden, if not meteoric, but whose decline is premature and abrupt. Young tennis prodigies such as Tracy Austin and Andrea Jaeger were exemplars of burnout, both being top-class pros in their teens and seeming to be destined for long reigns at the top. Both were prolific achievers on the professional circuit but neither fulfilled their early promise. Recurring back and neck problems curtailed Austin’s career when she was twenty-one; a chronic shoulder INJURY ended Jaeger’s prospects before she was twenty. Austin and Jaeger were well-publicized prodigies. There were and

are countless others who burn out before even approaching their potential. At the time of the 1996 summer Olympics at Atlanta, a report was published that claimed that the rigors of competitive gymnastics amounted to child abuse. According to the 1996 report’s authors, overambitious parents were pushing their children to succeed in sports out of selfish reasons. ‘‘Achievement by proxy’’ is how I. Tofler et al. described the manner in which parents drove their offspring toward an almost certain burnout. Joan Ryan reached similar conclusions in her book Little Girls in

Pretty Boxes. She chronicles the short-lived careers of Betty Okikino, practicing and competing with a broken neck, wearing a brace when resting; Kelly Garrison, pounding her ankle while waiting her turn

until the pain of the stress fracture was numbed; Julissa Gomez, fatally snapping her neck in Tokyo; Christy Henrich, who should have made the 1992 Olympics, but died instead two years later, weighing less than 50 lbs (22.68 kgs). A combination of parental pressure and coaching tyranny contrived to bring a premature halt to many promising sporting careers. There are several theories that purport to account for burnout in sport. Theory 1: Four stage. In 1986, Ronald E. Smith argued that there is

a progression to burnout, with the child being placed under pressure to train and develop competitive approaches by significant others, including parents and coaches. The young athlete then begins to see the demands placed on her or him differently, some finding the situation threatening, and others not so. If the demand is perceived as threatening, the youth enters a third stage in which there is a physiological response, such as fatigue or insomnia. Finally, in a fourth stage, the physiological response leads to COPING STRATEGIES. These might manifest in decreased levels of competitive performance, interpersonal problems, or complete withdrawal from the sport. For Smith, PERSONALITY and motivational factors influence the four stages of the burnout process. The player’s senses of SELF-ESTEEM, ambition, personal ANXIETY are all factors; so it is difficult to generalize from his theory. Some young sports performers might react positively, whereas others will feel the pressure. Theory 2: Training stress. In 1990, John M. Silva identified ‘‘training

stress’’ as the determinant in the burnout process. This is a physical characteristic: Sometimes the body becomes overloaded with the burden of training and COMPETITION; but, at other times, the young body becomes stronger and adapts to the rigors associated with higher levels of competition. The young competitors who are prone to burnout will experience a ‘‘psychophysiological malfunction’’ after their body’s failure to respond positively to training. Their mental orientation is then affected and they become incapable of meeting the demands placed on their bodies. Again, emphasis on how individuals respond limits the applicability of the theory. Lindsey MacDonald was a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl from Scot-

land when she reached the final of the 400 meters at the Moscow summer Olympics of 1980. Although she was beaten, she recovered three days later and helped the British team to bronze in the relay. The surprise performance spurred her to great ambitions, and she set herself a challenging and draining training schedule. INJURY and illness beset the rest of her career, and the promise shown in her teens was never fulfilled. She competed only until the age of twenty-five.