Throughout the United States, sports participation1,2 and early specialization3,4 have been increasing at a significant rate. This shift to early high volume training and sport specialization may play a role in increased risks of overuse/overload injuries or acute injuries requiring surgery5-7 as well as detrimental effects on the athletes’ psychological and social well-being.1,8,9 However, limited research has been conducted how another factor, “passion”, may influence risk of injury and/or psychological well-being. Utilizing the harmonious versus obsessive passion definitions, many researchers have analyzed student-athlete academic performance,14 goal achievement and optimal functioning,12 and drug utilization.15 However, there have been no studies conducted to date that analyze the effect of passion on injury and college athlete burnout, defined as “a syndrome of physical and emotional fatigue, a diminished sense of accomplishment, and devaluation of the sport.”16. The primary focus of this study is to identify the passion scores of current NCAA Division I student-athletes and describe the correlation of passion and burnout in athletes as well as to define the potential relationship of passion with athlete injury.
Following Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from the primary institution, a self-reported survey was distributed to athletes from four NCAA Division I multi-sport programs. Subjects were included if they were participating in varsity athletics at an NCAA Division I institution. Participants were informed that all study data would remain confidential and would not be disclosed to any coaches, staff, trainers, or institution affiliated personnel. Once informed consent was obtained, the student athletes were asked to complete a standardized survey, which included demographic information, the Passion Scale, and the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ).
A higher number of years specialized (p=.0494) was significantly associated with lower general passion. All other covariates––sex (p=.7654), age of specialization (p=.2103), number of prolonged injuries (p=.2567), and number of overuse injuries (p=.0605) ––were not statistically significant. Males had significantly higher obsessive passion scores than females (p=.0021). More overuse injuries (p=.0181) was significantly associated with lower harmonious passion scores. All other covariates––sex (p=.8731), age of specialization (p=.8153), number of prolonged injuries (p=.3967), and number of years specialized (p=.4646) ––were not statistically significant. Both general passion (p<.01) and harmonious passion (p<.01) were negatively correlated with lower burnout in all three burnout subscores. Therefore, a lower general passion and harmonious passion were correlated with a higher rate of burnout in all three sub scores. Obsessive passion was not correlated with exhaustion (p=.97), reduced accomplishment (p=.44), or sport devaluation (p=.44).
Individuals with higher general passion and harmonious passion scores were found to have lower levels of burnout in terms of exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, and sport devaluation. However, a higher obsessive passion was not correlated with an increase or decrease in burnout. These data further validate and show the generalizability of the Passion Score as well as the ABQ. Given that the effects of passion and burnout are widely agreed upon, future research should focus on why and how passion and burnout cause these effects.