ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1669344
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrative Perspectives on the Student-Athlete Experience: A Multi-Disciplinary FocusView all 5 articles
The Impact of Athlete Burnout on Academic Burnout Among College Athletes: A Multiple Mediation Model Based on Emotion Regulation and Sleep
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- 2Yangzhou University School of Educational Science, Yangzhou, China
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Background: College athletes often face dual demands from training and academics, increasing their risk of both athletic and academic burnout. However, the transfer mechanism between these two forms of burnout remains underexplored, especially regarding the roles of emotional regulation and sleep. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,918 college athletes using validated self-report measures. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the direct and indirect effects of college athlete burnout on academic burnout, with cognitive reappraisal and sleep quality as mediators. Results: College athlete burnout significantly predicted academic burnout (β = 0.412, p < 0.001). Both cognitive reappraisal (β = 0.071, p < 0.001) and sleep quality (β = 0.037, p < 0.001) partially mediated this relationship. Additionally, a significant chain mediation pathway was identified through cognitive reappraisal and sleep quality (β = 0.006, p < 0.01), accounting for 1.14% of the total effect. Conclusion: Athlete burnout can spill over into academic burnout among college athletes. Beyond confirming this relationship, the study highlights the critical roles of emotional regulation and sleep quality as mechanisms linking the two domains. These findings provide theoretical insight into burnout transfer and underscore the importance of integrating psychological skills training and sleep management into interventions aimed at supporting student-athletes' academic adjustment and mental health.
Keywords: college athletes, Athlete burnout, Academic burnout, Emotion Regulation, sleep quality
Received: 19 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Yang, Zhang and Li. 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:
Guihua Xu, School of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
Xirui Yang, School of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
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