Burnout and its relations with basic psychological needs and motivation among athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

• Global burnout and its three dimensions were negatively predicted by the three basic psychological needs.
• Global burnout and its three constructs were negatively influenced by extrinsic autonomous regulations and intrinsic motivation.
• Global burnout and its three subscales were positively predicted by amotivation.
• Three dimensions of burnout were not/weakly predicted by controlled regulations.

ObjectivesThe present study is a review on studies about the relationships between the three basic psychological needs/motivational regulations (i.e., amotivation, controlled regulation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and intrinsic motivation) and burnout.DesignA systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodStudies were identified through five electronic databases and manual search using combinations of three groups of keywords. Three inclusion criteria were then used to screen the searched articles.ResultsEighteen studies met the inclusion criteria and these studies varied considerably in terms of their study characteristics (e.g., characteristics of participants, study designs, and outcome measures). The results also showed that the three basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and amotivation had small to large effects on predicting global burnout and its three dimensions. However, controlled regulation showed no or weak correlations with the burnout subscales.ConclusionsSelf-determination theory was generally supported in explaining athlete burnout.