Burnout among elite soccer coaches.

Hjalm, Soren ; Kentta, Goran ; Hassmenan, Peter 等

Coaching can be very rewarding but also very demanding and frustrating; this may explain why 35% of coaches in USA Swimming stop coaching each year (Raedeke, 2004). As a group, elite coaches are more visible to the general public in comparison to lower level coaches such as high school or college coaches. Not surprisingly, the stressful situation and risk for burnout among elite coaches also attracts attention in the media, often as a result of a well-known coach suddenly deciding to quit due to self-reported high level of stress and emotional exhaustion. Despite these highly visible cases, prevalence rates of burnout among elite coaches are scarce in the research literature (Raedeke, 2004).

Burnout as a concept was first described in the scientific literature during the 1970s (Freudenberger, 1974; Maslach, 1976) and has since then become a recognized phenomenon in many cultures and settings, including the athletic community. Possibly the first mentioning of burnout within the athletic domain, but outside academia, was in the published self-biography of world famous middle-distance runner Gunder Hagg, who noted: "I am not burned out, but I am ill" (Hagg, 1952, p. 47) as a response to media criticizing a drop in his running performance. Initially, however, the study of burnout was limited to human services and helping professions; it was even suggested that continuously working in emotionally charged situations with people in distress was a necessary prerequisite for burnout to occur (Maslach, 1982). This suggestion was later modified when the focus shifted from stress arising from interpersonal contacts to stress developing when a mismatch exists between the perceived demands of the situation and one's capabilities and resources for meeting those demands. The individual may consciously observe this stress or it may remain unnoticed for a long time. Regardless, the individual may gradually start to feel emotionally drained, and begin to change her or his attitude towards the job and co-workers. If this mismatch becomes chronic, burnout may develop (Maslach, 1998; Maslach & Leiter, 2000; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001).

Six key-types of person--job mismatches have been identified as potential sources of burnout. These are: work overload, lack of control, lack of reward, lack of social support and community, lack of fairness, and value conflict (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Two of these, work overload and lack of reward, have also been associated with coach burnout (Capel, 1986; Capel, Sisley, & Desertrain, 1987; Vealey, Udry, Zimmerman, & Soliday, 1992). This is hardly surprising when considering that coaching, apart from everything else, involves a great deal of close relationships, with the coach--athlete relationship frequently labeled as the most intense and demanding relationship within the sporting world (Jowett & Crockerill, 2003).

The complexity and extraordinary demands placed on the coach are vividly conveyed in the following passage: "Coaches are performers, educators, administrators, leaders, planners, motivators, negotiators, managers, and listeners, but they are also people" (Giges, Petitpas, & Vernacchia, 2004, p. 431). Common coaching duties, such as travel planning, public relations, fund raising, and managing relationships with their coaching staff further add to the multitude of factors potentially being perceived as stressful. Within the context of sport, coaches represent the population that best fit into the framework of provider-recipient originally suggested to be a crucial element in the process of burnout, thereby indicating that coaches are prime candidates for burnout (Dale & Weinberg, 1990; Giges et al., 2004).

In contrast to the staggering number of studies examining burnout in various occupational settings (Schaufeli & Buunk, 2001), a more limited number of studies have examined burnout among athletic coaches. A recent systematic review on burnout among coaches reported 23 studies including 6460 coaches (Goodger, Gorely, Lavallee, & Harwood, 2006). These studies are highly homogenous with regard to research designs (92.7% cross-sectional), coach populations (95.1% of the sample are US coaches), and instruments used (95.4% used the MBI). In terms of competitive level, coaches included in these 23 studies represent various sub-elite levels such as high schools (24.5%), colleges (65.8%), and at the club level (7.3%), with a striking absence of elite level coaches (2.4% non-identified).

Burnout scores presented so far do not indicate that coaches are at a higher risk of burnout than many other professions. Some studies even present burnout scores that have been interpreted as low (Caccese & Mayerberg, 1984; Capel et al., 1987; Dale & Weinberg, 1989; Price & Weiss, 2000; Raedeke, 2004; Raedeke, Granzyk, & Warren, 2000). Other studies, however, have reported moderate to high levels of burnout when compared with data based on norms for educators established by Maslach, Jackson, and Leiter (1996). The educator survey is typically employed in coach burnout research and has been validated with a minor change in the original instrument, i.e., re-wording teacher-student to coach-athlete (Kelley, 1994; Kelley, Eklund, & Ritter-Taylor, 1999; Kelley & Gill, 1993; Vealey et al., 1992).

One explanation given for coaches not reporting as high levels of burnout as could be expected is the unique opportunities for gratifying and rewarding experiences present in the world of sport. The rewards may help combat the negative effects of stress (Caccese & Mayerberg, 1984). But it has also been argued that comparing mean burnout scores between coaches and other populations may be misleading (Vealey et al., 1992). The first review on coach burnout in sport, therefore, strongly emphasized the need to report frequency data in order to establish incidence rates (Dale & Weinberg, 1990). Percentages between 13% and 26% were reported when a sample of 201 female and 640 male coaches representing 10 different sports were investigated (Vealey et al., 1992). Subsequent progress has, however, been limited after this review was published, and the incidence of burnout in the sport domain remains largely unknown, especially in non-US populations (Raedeke, 2004). The exclusive focus on US populations is a serious limitation in terms of a cross-cultural perspective. However, the most critical issue limiting a more comprehensive understanding of coach burnout is the absence of elite coaches in previous research (Goodger et al., 2006).

Thus, one purpose in this study is to examine the prevalence of burnout in a well-defined group of elite coaches. A secondary purpose is to compare incidence rates and burnout scores in coaches responsible for either female or male teams. Traditionally, comparisons have been conducted between female and male coaches in order to examine gender issues. In this study, a somewhat different approach is taken by instead comparing male coaches responsible for either female or male soccer teams playing in the highest division for men and women respectively.

Method

The Coaching Context

Sweden has a population of 9 million people with a total of 228754 licensed soccer players (49942 girls/women and 178812 boys/men players). The Premier league for women includes 12 club-teams, whereas the Premier league for men has 14 teams, and the Second highest division for men includes 16 teams. All leagues include club-teams that are spread across the country, but with a concentration to the south of Sweden making travel demands similar across leagues (i.e., one-way buss-transport to away games range between 1 to 8 hours). Furthermore, each team typically play 10-15 friendly games during the pre-season and 22-30 games during the competitive season that starts in April and finishes in late October (Premier league for women: 22 games with an average of 1110 spectators; Premier league for men: 26 games with 8642 spectators on average; Second league for men: 30 games with an average of 3091 spectators). All players in the Premier league for men can make their living from soccer (average salary 5400 [euro]/month, which translates to 6800 US$/month). The average salary per month in the Second league for men is 1650 [euro] (2000 US$/month), and 230 [euro] (300 US$) per month in the Premier league for women. All teams regardless of league are considered to be either semi-professional or professional based upon their financial resources (The Swedish Soccer Association, 2005).

Participants

At the time of this study, there were a total of 53 individuals (52 men and 1 woman) who actively regarded themselves as head coaches for an elite soccer team. Out of the total population, 47 men volunteered (89%) to participate in this study. Among these, 13 were coaching in the Premier league for men, 14 in the Premier league for women, and 20 in the Second league for men. In this study the criteria and definition of an elite coach is based upon the high performance context that they coach in (Mallett & Cote, 2006). Specifically, they coach professional and semi-professional players at the highest national level. A large number of soccer players at this level have experience from playing international soccer with national/club teams from different countries (the leagues have both Swedish and foreign players).

Procedure

The coaches were contacted by mail with a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study, and verifying that the researchers had approval from the Ethics Committee at Orebro University. A questionnaire and a stamped return envelope were also included. In order to ensure that questions were answered as honestly as possible, the questionnaire was anonymous and the coaches were informed that their participation was voluntary. The questionnaire was administered to the coaches within one week after the competitive season had ended. This timeframe was chosen with the purpose of capturing the experience of completing a full season of competitive soccer coaching. Specifically, participants were instructed to respond to the questionnaire based on their feelings during the past six months. Three weeks after the questionnaire was distributed, a reminder was sent to those who had not yet returned a completed questionnaire. The response rate from coaches who volunteered to participate in the present study was 100%, accounting for 89% of the total population (47 out of 53).

Measures

To measure burnout, a Swedish version (Maslach & Leiter, 2002) of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Educators Survey (MBI-ES) was used (Maslach et al., 1996). The instrument was modified according to instructions in the manual and in accordance with previous research examining coaches (Kelley, 1994; Kelley & Gill, 1993). The change involved replacing "student" with "athlete", where applicable.

The MBI-ES consists of 22 items factored into three subscales: Emotional Exhaustion (9 items), Depersonalization (5 items), and Personal Accomplishment (8 items). The coaches rated each item on a seven-point scale ranging from Never (0) to Always (6). The Emotional Exhaustion subscale assesses feelings of being emotionally over-extended and exhausted by the work whereas the Depersonalization subscale measures an unfeeling and impersonal response toward recipients of one's service, care, treatment, or instruction. The Personal Accomplishment subscale assesses feelings of competence and successful achievement in the work With people (Maslach et al., 1996). Items are added together for a total score on each subscale. Importantly, burnout as a syndrome is conceptualized as a continuous variable ranging from low to moderate to high. In line with population norms presented by Maslach and colleagues (1996), a high degree of burnout was noted when a coach displayed high scores on both the Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization subscale, and a low score on the Personal Accomplishment subscale.

Statistical analyses

Means and standard deviations were calculated and differences explored using Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) with post-hoc tests performed according to the Scheffe-method. Demographic information were also collected, see Table 1.

Results

The participating soccer coaches belonged to three different leagues and results are therefore presented for each of these in order to contrast similarities and differences. The majority of coaches had similar coaching experiences in terms of years of coaching (14-17 years) and educational level (45-60% held post-graduate degrees). Only one coach from each group reported work related sickness due to too much stress. The number of weeks on vacation and at work per year was also similar across groups. However, a main difference between the groups was related to the coaching situation. All of the coaches in the Premier league for men reported being on fulltime coaching contracts. In contrast, only 10% of the women's Premier league coaches and 50% of the men's Second league coaches reported being employed fulltime as coaches (see Table 1). Another difference with regard to available coaching resources is seen in the number of coaching staff, with more support available for those coaching men in the Premier league. These coaches were also somewhat older and more often involved in long-term relationships compared to the other coaches. However, the size of the standard deviations suggests considerable within-group differences in all groups (Table 1).

In Table 2, means and standard deviations for the burnout dimensions are shown and compared to norms established by Maslach and colleagues (1996). High scores on Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization, and low scores on Personal Accomplishment indicate high levels of burnout. The scores reported by coaches in the Premier league for men, and the Second division for men, were lower than those obtained from coaches in the Premier league for women and also in relation to norms reported by Maslach and coworkers (1996).

Frequency data are presented in Table 3 in order to provide information about the distribution of burnout scores across the three groups. Results indicate that a substantial proportion of coaches from all three groups experience moderate to high levels of burnout. Those coaching men in the Premier league reported less burnout than those coaching men in the Second league, whereas coaches working with teams in the Premier league for women experienced higher levels of burnout compared to the other groups on two of the three subscales. Based on the norms established by Maslach and colleagues (1996) for educators, typically used to also describe coach burnout (Kelley et al., 1999), 36% of the coaches working in the Premier league for women reported high levels of Emotional Exhaustion (compared to 0 and 15% in the two other groups respectively) and 29% experienced high levels of problems (low scores) related to Personal Accomplishment (compared to 8 and 10% respectively). Only the percentages of coaches with high scores on the Depersonalization subscale were comparable across all three groups (see Table 3). In addition, 7 out of the 8 coaches with high levels of emotional exhaustion finished at the lower end in their respective league. Statistically, a significant overall difference was detected between the groups for Emotional Exhaustion ([F.sub.2,44]= 4.88, p <.02). Post hoc-tests (Scheffe) revealed that coaches in the Premier League for women scored significantly higher on Emotional Exhaustion than coaches in the Premier league for men (p<.05). No significant differences for Personal Accomplishment (p>.09) or Depersonalization (p>.43) were identified.

Discussion

One purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of burnout among Swedish elite soccer coaches across three different leagues at the highest level. Another purpose was to examine whether coaching men or women results in different burnout scores. However, before discussing our findings it should be emphasized that comparing burnout scores across different populations and different cultures must be undertaken with caution (cf. Vealey et al., 1992). It is also stressed in the MBI-manual that available norms only should be seen as reference points for assessing a relative level of burnout in a given setting, and also that the available norms are based on North American populations (Maslach et al., 1996). In comparison to the available (North American) norms, Swedish soccer coaches participating in this study seem to be a reasonably healthy group. However, when the prevalence rates of burnout are examined more closely, it becomes obvious that a considerable proportion of the coaches in the Premier league for women experience high degrees of burnout. More specifically, 36% of them display high levels of Emotional Exhaustion, 50% score high on Depersonalization and almost 30% report problems related to Personal Accomplishment. The incidence of burnout found among our coaches in the Premier league for women is therefore somewhat higher than what Kelley and coworkers (1999) reported; they found that 17 to 32% of their tennis coaches experienced high levels of burnout. Even lower percentages were reported by Vealey and collaborators (1992), with a range of 13 to 26% across gender and burnout dimensions. In comparison, incidence rates of burnout among coaches in the Second league for men range between 10 to 15% across burnout dimensions, and between 0 and 15% among the coaches in the Premiere league for men. The latter results are consistent with those of Raedeke (2004) who reported low levels of burnout in a sample of swim coaches. The high scores on the Depersonalization subscale (varying between 38.5 and 65% in the three groups) are not consistent with Vealey et al. (1992), who have reported low to average scores on the Depersonalization subscale.

One possible explanation to the relatively low scores on the burnout subscales, particularly for the coaches in the Premier league for men, is that individuals vulnerable to stress and burnout have left the coaching profession well before reaching the elite level. This leaves only the "survivors" who have developed adequate coping skills to handle the extra pressure present at the top level of coaching. In line with this reasoning, it was noted that coaches active in the Second league display higher scores than those active in the Premier league--possibly because Second league coaches had less experience (i.e., 3 years less) than their Premier league colleagues. However, it has also been suggested that opportunities for satisfaction and reward available to coaches at the elite level would protect against stress related consequences such as burnout (Giges et al., 2004; Raedeke, 2004), but this does not explain why coaches responsible for teams in the Premier league for women display higher burnout scores than those coaching in the Premier league for men.

A more likely explanation pertains to available financial resources. Whereas the Premier league for men increasingly becomes more commercial and professional, this trend is weaker and slower in the Premier league for women and the Second league for men, respectively. The Swedish Soccer Association reported that in 2005, the men's Premier league had a business volume or economic turnover around 81 m [euro] (million Euro, which is the equivalent of 102 million US$), the men's Second league 26 m [euro] (33 million US$) and the women's Premier league 4.6 m [euro] (5.8 million US$). This most likely explains why head coaches in the Premier league for men commonly had 5-6 people supporting them whereas coaches in the Premier league for women only had 3-4 people available (these numbers do not, however, reflect the actual difference because support-people in the Premier league for men devoted a larger percentage of their time than did those supporting head-coaches in the Premier league for women).

Another potentially important difference between the leagues is that all coaches in the Premier league for men were full-time coaches, as compared to only 10% among women Premier league coaches (and 50% among men Second league). Most of the coaches in the women's Premier league worked 22-36 hours a week as part-time coaches and reported less than 11 hours of free time per week. Individuals working part-time as soccer coaches and part-time somewhere else may find themselves in constant conflict when having to deal with two different jobs that each may call upon their undivided attention (of. Capel et al., 1987). As also noted previously, workload is one factor that affects the level of burnout and the exhaustion dimension in particular (Maslach et al., 2001). When people are unable to recover from work demands, especially if they also perceive conflicting roles (Maslach et al., 1996), the situation may become critical.

Apart from available resources and role conflicts, the coaching process itself could possibly explain why differences exist between coaches of female and male teams. The relationship between the coach and the athletes/team is a complex process of communication with many problems involved (Jowett & Cockerill, 2003). It is possible that the demands on the coach from teams with either men or women are different, and if the leadership style of the coach does not agree with team preference, conflicts may develop. In studies investigating these issues, it has been shown that female student athletes preferred democratic coaching styles and rate skill instruction and positive feedback as most important. Male student athletes on the other hand had significant greater preferences for more autocratic behavior (Riemer & Toon, 2001; Wilson, 2004). In our study, five of the eight coaches scoring high on emotional exhaustion were coaches in the woman's Premier league. Even though this is not conclusive evidence, future studies investigating leadership style in relation to coach burnout in female and female teams are of great interest.

Factors inherent in the sporting environment may also be significant stress generators. Research has found that pressure to win, when combined with an inability to win, is the reason most often cited when coaches are being dismissed from their duties (Humphrey, 1987; Taylor, 1992). Only one study has, however, reported results on the relationship between win/loss record and burnout, finding no such relationship (Quigley, Slack, & Smith, 1987). It is nevertheless noteworthy in this study that seven out of eight coaches reporting high degrees of burnout on the emotional exhaustion subscale finished among the last teams in their respective league. Some coaches therefore appear to be ill prepared to handle defeat, or, alternatively, the demands of handling defeat are taxing and a potential source of burnout. However, this was not explored in the present study, but seems worth investigating in future studies, preferably using qualitative methods.

Considering the relatively limited number of coaches participating herein, results must be interpreted with some caution. Despite this, it seems pertinent to stress the fact that the present study did include a clearly defined population of elite soccer coaches, from which 89% participated, which makes the results at least representative of elite soccer coaches in Sweden. One limitation of the present study, and most previous ones, is the cross-sectional research design. It is therefore suggested that future research utilizes longitudinal approaches in order to study underlying causes, symptoms and consequences of coach burnout. Another area of future research might focus on the organization of the soccer clubs. Present findings support the notion that contextual circumstances may play a role in the development of burnout even within in the same sport, but the extent or pattern of this is not known. This warrants future research not only examining differences between sports, but also within sports.

In conclusion, male soccer coaches who coach woman are more susceptible to burnout than those coaching men. Differences in available support, economical resources, role conflicts and conflicting time demands may at least partly explain why this is the case. Future studies should target the coaches and the views of the players (Woodman & Hardy, 2001), preferably also including the organization and social environment surrounding the teams.

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Soren Hjalam

Orebro University, Sweden

Goran Kentta

The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Sweden

Peter Hassmenan

Stockholm University, Sweden

University of Southern Queensland, Australia

Henrik Gustafsson

Orebro University, Sweden

Address Correspondence To: Professor Peter Hassmen, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Phone: +46-8-16 36 84, Fax: +46-8-15 93 42, E-mail: phn@psychology.su.se

Table 1
Percentages, means (and standard deviations) for the
demographic variables.

 Men Premier Women Premier Men Second
 League League League
Variable (n = 13) (n = 14) (n =20)

Age in years 48 (6.7) 41 (7.3) 43 (6.5)
Post-graduate education 55% 45% 60%
Long term relationships 92% 57% 80%
Fulltime coaching 100% 14% 50%
Work-time besides coach 0% 45% 25%
Total years as coach 17 (6.5) 14 (6.9) 14 (6.1)
Number of support staff 6.3 (l.5) 4.1 (1.8) 5.1 (1.1)
Working hours/hard week 51 (14.2) 36 (14.3) 47 (17.6)
Working hours/easy week 30 (11.1) 22 (10.5) 28 (12.3)
Free time hours/week 12 (9.9) 11 (7.6) 18 (8.7)
Working weeks/year 48 (l.5) 45 (6.8) 48 (l.8)
Vacation weeks/year 4 (l.4) 4 (l.9) 4 (l.9)

Table 2
Means (and standard deviations) of burnout scores.

Burnout variables Men Premier Women Premier
 League League
 (n-13) (n=14)

Emotional Exhaustion 12.7 (6.0) 21.9 (7.9)
Depersonalization 8.3 (4.2) 9.0 (5.8)
Personal Accomplish. 38.2 (6.7) 32.7 (6.2)

Burnout variables Men Second Norm
 League Mean *
 (n=20)

Emotional Exhaustion 15.3 (9.6) 21.0 (10.8)
Depersonalization 7.0 (4.7) 8.7 (5.9)
Personal Accomplish. 35.6 (4.6) 34.6 (7.1)

* Norm values by Maslach, Jackson, and Leiter (1996).

Table 3
Percentages (and number of individuals) experiencing High, Moderate,
and Low levels of burnout, respectively.

 Men Premier
Burnout variables League
 (n=13)

Emotional High 0% (0)
Exhaustion Moderate 23% (3)
 Low 77% (10)

Depersonalization High 38.5% (5)
 Moderate 54% (7)
 Low 7.5% (1)

Personal High 69% (9)
Accomplishment Moderate 23% (3)
 Low 8% (1)

 Ladies Premier Men Second
Burnout variables League League
 (n=14) (n=20)

Emotional 35.5% (5) 15% (3)
Exhaustion 35.5% (5) 30% (6)
 29% (4) 55% (11)

Depersonalization 50% (7) 65% (13)
 28.5% (4) 20% (4)
 21.5% (3) 15% (3)

Personal 28.5% (4) 30% (6)
Accomplishment 35.5% (6) 60% (12)
 28.5% (4) 10% (2)

Note. Low, Moderate, and High classifications are based on the norms
established for higher education by Maslach and Jackson (1986) for
the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).
Emotional Exhaustion: low [less than or equal to] 16, average 17-26,
high [greater than or equal to] 27 scores.
Depersonalization: high [less than or equal to] 8, average 9-13, low
[greater than or equal to] 14 scores.
Personal Accomplishment: low [less than or equal to] 30, average
31-36, high [greater than or equal to] 37 scores.