Dominant Energy System Influence on Burnout in Collegiate Female Athletes

Thursday, April 25, 2013
Exhibit Hall Poster Area 2 (Convention Center)
Shelley H. Bradford, Christopher M. Keshock, Phillip M. Norrell, Larry R. Gurchiek and Robert J. Heitman, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Background/Purpose Determine the influence of the dominant energy system used in select female collegiate sports on burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).

Method Ninety -nine volunteer female (M age=19.93±1.10) varsity athletes at a Division I university in the Southeast United States served as participants. Burnout was assessed by the MBI subscales of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). Participants were classified according to the dominant energy system (1. ATP-CP, 2. Glycolytic, or 3. Oxidative) used in their respective sport as classified by Fox (1993). Golf, field events, and softball were considered ATP-CP dominant (N=39), soccer, basketball, and volleyball (N=54) were considered Glycolytic dominant, and cross country (N=6) Oxidative dominant.

Analysis/Results Three separate one-way ANOVA procedures were conducted using the MBI subscales (EE, DP, and PA) as a dependent variable and type of energy system used as the independent variable. Analyses showed significant main effects for the PA (F(2,96)=5.22,p=.007) and DP (F (2,96)=3.20,p = .045) subscales but not EE (F (2,96)=.018,p =.982). Post Hoc comparisons (Fischer's LSD) for the PA and DP subscales showed significant differences (p≤.05) for PA between the Oxidative (M=41.666±4.273) and the ATP-CP (M=32.692±7.567) and Glycolytic (M=31.351±7.568) groups. Depersonalization significant differences were also found between the Oxidative (M= 2.33±1.751) and the ATP-CP (M= 6.871±.803) and Glycolytic (M=7.444±4.648) groups. No significant differences were found between the ATP-CP and Glycolytic groups. No significant differences were found for EE for ATP-CP (M=24.974±7.198), Glycolytic (M=25.314±9.828) and Oxidative (M=25±5.86).

Conclusions Participants in Oxidative dominant sports experience higher levels of PA and DP burnout.