Effect of Self-Determined Motivation on Athlete Burnout:Evidence from Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study

Athlete burnout is an important issue in the sport field.Self-determination perspective has been paid more and more attention.According to self-determination theory,it was hypothesized that self-determined motivation could negatively predict athlete burnout.This study,consisting of both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study,was designed to test this hypothesis.In the cross-sectional study,the predicting model from self-determined motivation to athlete burnout was well fit with 225 athletes.The longitudinal study with 60 Judo athletes demonstrated that the self-determined motivation at the beginning of the winner season could predict athlete burnout at the end of the winner season;what's more,the change of self-determination could predict the change of athlete burnout during the winner season.Theoretically,the present study provided evidence that athlete burnout could be explained from self-determination perspective;in practice,the present study implied that improving self-determined motivation could prevent athlete burnout.