📌 TL;DR: Estudio revela papel mediador de la actitud mental positiva en relación entre aguante mental y burnout deportivo.
🔬 Puntos clave:
- Medición de burnout, aguante mental y actitud mental positiva.
- Mediatriz del efecto de aguante mental sobre burnout total y subescalas.
- Efectos meditadores para self-confidence y eficacia en emocional y física.
🎯 Aplicación clínica para LATAM:
En la práctica deportiva, este hallazgo sugiere que programas preventivos enfocados en mejorar el aguante mental (self-confidence, efectividad) y fomentar actitud mental positiva podrían reducir los niveles de burnout, especialmente en áreas como el estrés emocional y físico.
⚠ Limitaciones:
El estudio se realizó con un grupo de jóvenes deportistas polacos, lo que limita su generalizabilidad al contexto latinoamericano.
Introduction
Athlete burnout poses a significant threat to both wellbeing and performance. Mental toughness is recognized as a key protective factor. However, the mechanisms underlying its relationship with burnout remain insufficiently understood. The present study aimed to examine whether positive mental attitude-a component of health-related behaviours-mediates the relationship between mental toughness and athlete burnout.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 456 athletes aged 18-30 years. The following Polish-adapted instruments were employed: the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ-P), the Health Behavior Inventory (IZZ)-Positive Mental Attitude subscale, and the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ). Mediation analyses were performed using bootstrapping (5000 samples) to test the indirect effects of mental toughness (total score and subscales) on burnout (total and subscale scores) via positive mental attitude.
Results
Positive mental attitude significantly mediated the relationship between overall mental toughness and total burnout. At the level of mental toughness subscales, mediation effects were observed for self-confidence and effectiveness in predicting emotional and physical exhaustion and reduced sense of accomplishment. In contrast, emotional control and task execution showed no significant indirect effects through positive mental attitude. No mediation was found for sport devaluation.
Conclusion
Positive mental attitude partially explains the relationship between mental toughness and lower levels of burnout-particularly in the domains of emotional and physical exhaustion and reduced sense of accomplishment. Preventive and educational programs should focus on simultaneously enhancing key components of mental toughness (e.g., self-confidence, effectiveness) and fostering a positive mental attitude to support athletes' psychological resilience and long-term engagement in sport.
Cómo citar:
Bojkowski Ł. (2025).
The mediating role of positive mental attitude in the relationship between mental toughness and athlete burnout: a cross-sectional study.. Frontiers in public health.
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1741676 ↗ PMID: 41626369 ↗ Acceso al paper: Ver completo ↗
