Effects of Coaches' Behaviors and Burnout on the Satisfaction and Burnout of Athletes

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between coaches' burnout, coaches' behaviors, and levels of burnout and satisfaction experienced by college athletes. The secondary purposes were to examine how coaches' levels of burnout were related to perceived coaching behavior, and to examine the link between athletes' levels of burnout and satisfaction. Forty two male and female coaches employed at the 8 public universities in Jordan, and 413 male and female college athletes participated in this study. The participants completed translated version of the Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS; Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980), Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke & Smith, 2001), Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ; Riemer & Chelladurai, 1998), and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, and stepwise regression. The results of this study suggest that there is a significant relationship between coaches' leadership behaviors and burnout. It was discovered that personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion to be significant predictors of the coaches' leadership behaviors. Significant relationships were found between perceived coaching behaviors and athletes' outcomes. Athletes who perceived their coaches as providing more training and instruction, social support, feedback, and exhibiting more democratic behavior and less autocratic behavior were more satisfied and less burned out. In addition, significant negative relationships were found between athletes' satisfaction and athletes' burnout.