International Journal of Sport, Exercise and Health Research 2019; 3(2): 28-32 ; DOI:10.31254/sportmed.3201
Predictors of well-being and burnout: the case of female professional footballers in the Netherlands
1. School of Psychology, University of Guildford, UK
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 25th July, 2019 / Accepted: 14th October, 2019
Background: Little is known about well-being and burnout in female professional soccer. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to delineate and predict these outcomes in female players in the Netherlands. Study design/setting: A cross-sectional study using validated self-report instruments assessed the basic emotional needs, work-life balance, coaching support and wellbeing/burnout in female professional football players. Materials and Methods: 67 players from across all nine Dutch Eredivisie league clubs completed a range of self-report measures. These assessed perceived coach autonomy support, work-life conflict, basic needs (for autonomy, competence and relatedness), subjective vitality and burnout on scales specific to elite athletes. Statistics/Results: These suggested that the environment in terms of coaching is broadly supportive for most individuals and is not leading to burnout and poor wellbeing across the sample. A minority of players were nevertheless identified to have significantly poor wellbeing and high levels of burnout. Conclusion: Consistent with basic need theory, poor wellbeing was predicted by several unmet needs, while burnout was predicted by both work-life conflict and unmet needs. There are clear implications that female professionals frequently experience high levels of work-life conflict.
football, women, burnout, coaching, wellbeing
