INTRODUCTION:
In sports, the lack of adequate coping strategies and the Burnout syndrome may limit athletes' development and performance.
OBJECTIVE:
To assess Burnout and coping strategies among professional and youth team football players during pre-competition and competition phases.
METHODS:
In a prospective study, 73 male football players were evaluated in the State of São Paulo, being 32 professionals (mean age = 22±4.14 years) and 41 amateurs (mean age = 17+0.94 years), all members of three teams participating in the Championship of São Paulo, Series A-1 and A-2 (professional category), and in the São Paulo Junior Soccer Cup (amateurs). To assess the variables Burnout and coping strategies, the following instruments were used: Ways of coping problem scale (EMEP) and Burnout questionnaire for athletes (QBA). Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis, with a significance level of 0.05.
RESULTS:
Statistically significant differences were found between the categories in the pre-competition (p=0.026), but no differences were found during the competition phase (p=0.468). This suggests that professional and amateur football players use different coping strategies, which in most cases, for both categories, were focused on the problem.
CONCLUSION:
During the competition athletes with higher Burnout scores regarding Reduced Sense of Sporting Achievement are associated with the mode of coping focused on religious and wishful thoughts.
adaptation; psychological; soccer; athletes