ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Heterogeneity in Dual-Career Stress: An Integrative Person-Centered and Distribution-Sensitive Analysis of Its Asymmetric Effects on Adolescent Football Players
Zhengri Quan 1
Guannan Liu 1
Hang Yin 2
Dan Pang 3
1. Changchun Normal University, Changchun, China
2. Anshan Normal University, Anshan, China
3. China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
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Abstract
Objective: This study examined the heterogeneous nature of dual-career stress and its asymmetric associations with on adolescent athletes, aiming to: (1) identify distinct stress profiles based on academic, training, and role-conflict stressors; (2) assess whether stress associations vary across levels of athletic burnout and academic performance; and (3) test whether stress profiles moderate these relationships. Methods: A two-wave longitudinal study included 843 adolescent male football players in China. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) categorized participants using three stressor subscales at Time 1. Quantile Regression (QR) at Time 2 (6 months later) analyzed the association between total stress and athletic burnout and academic performance across five quantiles (τ=0.10–0.90), with stress profile as moderator, controlling for social support, time management, and demographics. Results: LPA revealed four profiles: Balanced Moderates (37.2%), Academically Overwhelmed (28.1%), Sport-Centric Strained (22.0%), and Dual-Track Distressed (12.7%). QR showed the positive association between stress and burnout increased across quantiles (β=0.41 at τ=0.10 to 0.78 at τ=0.90), with the strongest association observed among already burnt-out athletes most. For academic performance, the negative association between stress and performance was strongest at lower quantiles (β=−0.71 at τ=0.10) and weaker at higher quantiles (β=−0.29 at τ=0.90). Stress profiles significantly moderate these relationships: the Dual-Track Distressed profile showed the strongest association with on burnout (β=0.89), while Academically Overwhelmed and Dual-Track Distressed profiles showed the strongest negative association with on academic performance (β=−0.79 and −0.92, respectively). Conclusion: Dual-career stress experiences and impacts are highly heterogeneous. Adolescents cluster into meaningful stress profiles, and stress is most strongly associated with negative outcomes among those already at extremes of burnout or poor academic performance. Findings underscore the need for personalized interventions tailored to athletes' specific stress profiles and outcome levels, supporting holistic development in dual-career contexts.
Summary
Keywords
academic performance, Adolescent athletes, Dual career, latent profile analysis, quantile regression, sports burnout, Stress heterogeneity
Received
17 January 2026
Accepted
18 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Quan, Liu, Yin and Pang. 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: Dan Pang
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