Estudo longitudinal dos indicadores da síndrome de Burnout e das estratégias de coping em atletas brasileiros de alto rendimento

Abstract

Burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome of reaction to chronic stress that occurs in individuals who work directly with people. It is a set of symptoms observed from three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced professional accomplishment, characterized respectively by feelings of extreme fatigue associated to physiological and psychological strain, negative feelings and attitudes concerning other people, and negative self evaluation. One technique to prevent and control the syndrome is through coping, which is the ability to deal with stressful situations. Until the present moment, researchers have been investigated athlete burnout through retrospective or cross sectional designs. One of the main recommendations for a better understanding of burnout is the elaboration of longitudinal studies that can describe the syndrome development process. The present study aimed to: investigate burnout and coping strategies characteristics over time in volleyball and judo athletes; and analyze the relation between the burnout syndrome and the coping strategies in athletes during a sport season. Seventy-four Brazilian high level volleyball and judo athletes from 18 to 36 years old and minimum of five years of competitive practice were investigated into three groups (general, volleyball and judo) and completed paper-and-pencil measures of burnout (Portuguese version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire, composed by 15 items that assess the frequency of burnout perceptions) and coping (Portuguese version of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory, composed by 28 items encompassing thoughts and actions used to deal with internal or external demands in the sports environment). Participants also completed a demographic questionnaire. A field diary was utilized in order to register data from the environment. Data was collected in four moments during a sport season: preseason and three competitive moments. In order to answer the first aim, Friedman test and Dunn post hoc were used, whereas Spearman coefficient was used in order to answer the second aim. The statistical procedures were performed by the package Prisma version six and the level of significance adopted was p > .05. Results showed increase for the reduced sense of sport accomplishment and sport devaluation perceptions during the season in general and volleyball groups, whereas judo athletes perceptions of burnout did not change. Regarding coping perceptions, differences through the longitudinal analysis were observed in confidence/motivation dimension for general and judo groups, whereas volleyball athletes perceptions of burnout did not change. Finally, the analysis of correlations between burnout and coping showed a significant, moderate and inversely correlation from burnout dimensions and coping strategy confidence/motivation in all moments of the season. In summary, findings indicated the increase of the perception of burnout in general and volleyball groups, which could be explained by the accumulation of training and competition, as well as the requirement for high performance in the seasons key competitions. The study also pointed out the relevance of the motivational factor in the emergence of burnout. Overall, the findings suggested that burnout perceptions increase as the season progresses, highlighting the relevance for the periodization of the burnout prevention and control.