Burnout is a negative consequence of stress and has received attention in sports research. On the basis of Smith’s [(1986). Toward a cognitive-affective model of athletic burnout. Journal of Sport Psychology, 8(1), 36–50. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsp.8.1.36] cognitive–affective model of athlete burnout, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the correlation between athlete stress and burnout. After searching academic databases for the 2001–2021 period, we selected 48 empirical studies for analysis, of which 44 used the Athletes Burnout Questionnaire with a three-dimension model to measure athlete burnout. The athlete stress measurement tools were considerably diverse, including the Perceived Stress Scale, the College Student-Athletes’ Life Stress Scale, and the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes. The meta-analysis results confirmed the stress–burnout correlation, yielding an overall effect size of 0.505. The r values for the correlation of athlete stress with overall burnout and the three dimensions of burnout ranged from 0.402–0.532. The correlation between stress and a reduced sense of accomplishment was highest among participants of all ages and competitive levels. Furthermore, the correlation between stress and devaluation of sports participation was relatively low in all groups. The results revealed differences in the stress–burnout correlation in different age groups. However, most of the included studies used student-athletes as research samples, which highlights the need for further research exploring the continuity of and change in the stress–burnout correlation across athletes’ lives. The implications of the results are discussed herein.

Mental toughness (MT) is an important predictor of athletic performance with a growing number of studies examining the effects of MT on athletic performance. However, there is a lack of clear understanding regarding the exact effects. Therefore, we aimed to synthesise the extant literature regarding the MT-athletic performance effect by systematic review and meta-analysis. Using related keywords of mental toughness, sport, and performance, we searched ten major academic databases from January 2000 to August 2022. Results found that the 16 studies we examined showed moderate to high publication quality, moderate heterogeneity, low sensitivity, and low publication bias. Furthermore, using a random effect estimate-r, we found a moderate to a high correlation between MT and athletic performance, yielding an overall effect size of r = 0.36. Moreover, we found the MT-athletic performance relationship was moderated by age group (r = 0.20 for adolescents and r = 0.41 for adults); sports category (r = 0.73 for combat sports, r = 0.30 for ball sports, and r = 0.32 for endurance sports); sports type (r = 0.73 for individual sports and r = 0.21 for team sports); athletic performance measure (r = 0.33 for objective measure and r = 0.62 for subjective measure); and measure of MT (r = 0.56 for MTQ group, r = 0.32 for PPI-A group, r = 0.33 for MTI group, and r = 0.13 for others). We thus concluded that MT is a broad and multi-factored concept with diverse components in measures. We suggested future studies continuously examining the MT-athletic performance effect with updated measures.

Background: Although Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, Cohen, Kamarack & Mermelstein, 1983) has been validated and widely used in many domains, there is still no validation in sports by comparing athletes and non-athletes and examining related psychometric indices.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the measurement invariance of PSS between athletes and non-athletes, and examine construct validity and reliability in the sports contexts.Methods: Study 1 sampled 359 college student-athletes (males = 233; females = 126) and 242 non-athletes (males = 124; females = 118) and examined factorial structure, measurement invariance and internal consistency. Study 2 sampled 196 student-athletes (males = 139, females = 57,M_age = 19.88 yrs, SD = 1.35) and examined discriminant validity and convergent validity of PSS. Study 3 sampled 37 student-athletes to assess test-retest reliability of PSS.Results: Results found that 2-factor PSS-10 fitted the model the best and had appropriate reliability. Also, there was a measurement invariance between athletes and non-athletes; and PSS positively correlated with athletic burnout and life stress but negatively correlated with coping efficacy provided evidence of discriminant validity and convergent validity. Further, the test-retest reliability for PSS subscales was significant (r = .66 andr = .50).Discussion: It is suggested that 2-factor PSS-10 can be a useful tool in assessing perceived stress either in sports or non-sports settings. We suggest future study may use 2-factor PSS-10 in examining the effects of stress on the athletic injury, burnout, and psychiatry disorders.

In search of positive strengths that bolster athletes’ reaction to stress, the purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effects of athletic mental energy on the athletes’ life stress–burnout relationship. This study recruited two samples (Study 1 = 230; Study 2 = 159) and administered the College Student-Athlete’s Life Stress Scale (CSALSS; Lu et al., 2012), Athletic Mental Energy Scale (AMES; Lu et al., 2018), and Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke and Smith, 2001). Two separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses found that the emotional and cognitive components of athletic mental energy moderated the athletes’ life stress–burnout relationship across the two studies. Results provided the initial evidence that athletic mental energy can be positive strengths in buffering the stress–burnout relationship. Theoretical implications, limitations, practical applications, and future research directions are discussed.

While prior research has generally found Outdoor Education Programs (OEPs) to be beneficial to adolescents’ self-efficacy, we sought to conduct a meta-analytic review of prior studies in this area in order to pinpoint the key elements to OEPs’ effectiveness. Following Cooper’s guidelines for synthesis research and meta-analysis, we searched six electronic databases for relevant articles: PubMed, Sciencedirect, Medline, PsycArticles, and Behavioral Sciences Collection of EBSCO, and Eric. Selection criteria were: Populations, Interventions, Comparators, Outcomes, Study Design (PICOS), and Methodological Index for Non-randomized Studies (MINORS). We estimated the effect size of the selected studies with a 95% confidence interval (CI), estimated I-squared (I²) for heterogeneity analysis and analyzed publication bias by Egger's test. After excluding many studies, we reviewed 12 studies with 2,642 participants that were deemed to be eligible for final analysis. We discovered a high level of heterogeneity (I-squared value =82.474) in the findings of the selected studies. Our meta-analyses revealed that adolescents participating in OEPs enhanced their self-efficacy (medium effect size; Hedges’s g = 0.597) but this enhancement was moderated by participants’ mental health status, the length of the experiments, study groups, and the duration of the intervention. We found no evidence of publication bias (Egger: bias = 2.001, 95% CI = −0.736 to 4.739, p = .137). We discussed our research limitations and the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and made recommendations for future research.