ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1615274
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Burnout Spectrum in Schools and Sports: Students, Teachers, Athletes, and Coaches at RiskView all 9 articles
Navigating Pressure and Connection: Goal Orientation, Coach-Athlete Relationships, and Burnout Among Chinese Collegiate Athletes -A Mixed-Methods Study
Provisionally accepted
Le Wang1
Hongye Lian2*- 1Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
- 2Hebei Sport University, Shijiazhuang, China
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This mixed-methods study investigated the interplay of goal orientation, coach-athlete relationship (CAR) quality, and athlete burnout among Chinese collegiate athletes. A sequential explanatory design was employed, first surveying 346 athletes (Mage=20.6 years) across five Chinese provinces, then conducting semi-structured interviews with a purposive subsample of 28 diverse athletes. Quantitative data (TEOSQ, CART-Q, RED-A) were analyzed using hierarchical regression, while qualitative interviews underwent thematic analysis. Quantitative findings indicated task orientation, CAR closeness, and complementarity as significant negative predictors of burnout dimensions (p<.05). Ego orientation uniquely predicted higher cynicism (β=.15, p=.005). Significant interactions suggested that high closeness was associated with a weaker ego orientation’s positive link to cynicism, and complementarity was associated with an enhanced task orientation’s protective effect on reduced accomplishment. Notably, CAR commitment, though correlated with burnout, did not emerge as a unique predictive factor. Qualitative themes elaborated on these findings, highlighting how performance pressures were associated with goal orientation (e.g., ego orientation linked to cynicism via perceived system barriers) and the importance of specific functional CAR aspects (e.g., complementarity fostering competence, closeness associated with buffering life stress). Interpretations of hardship also related to task focus. Overall, findings underscore that athlete burnout in this context is shaped by motivational orientations and specific relational dynamics within unique cultural and systemic pressures. This suggests interventions should target both individual and relational factors.
Keywords: Athlete burnout, goal orientation, Coach-Athlete Relationship, mixed-methods, Collegiate athletes, sport psychology
Received: 21 Apr 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang and Lian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hongye Lian, Hebei Sport University, Shijiazhuang, China
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