Mental toughness and burnout in junior athletes: A longitudinal investigation

Mental toughness correlated negatively with burnout in several cross-sectional studies. It is unclear, however, whether mental toughness predicts changes in athlete burnout over time. Two-wave longitudinal design. We examined mental toughness and burnout in 93 junior athletes (mean age 17.7 years) across a three-month period of active training. Regression analyses revealed that mental toughness predicted residual decreases in total burnout, reduced sense of accomplishment, physical and emotional exhaustion, and devaluation over time. As such, mental toughness may offer athletes protection from the experience of burnout symptoms in sport.