Graduation Year

2017

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Reader 1

Michael Spezio

Reader 2

Stacey Wood

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2016 Mary L. Clark

Abstract

A common reason why athletes retire from their sport is burnout. Athletic burnout often occurs when athletes are over-trained and do not get enough rest. The present study examines the question: why is it that some athletes are able to perform at a high level for many years while others fizzle out? The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate the effects of perfectionism and anxiety on sleep disturbances and athletic burnout in high school students. The proposed method will be a correlational within-participants design and participants will be high school-age female gymnasts. The gymnasts will complete measures of perfectionism surrounding academics and athletics, anxiety, and burnout. Additionally, the gymnasts’ parents will complete measures of perfectionism and their perceptions of their child’s burnout. Athletes will then be given a sleep tracker to wear each night for a week to measure the athlete’s sleep per night. It is predicted that academic perfectionism and amount of sleep will interact to result in higher burnout levels. Additionally, it is predicted that there will be an interaction between anxiety levels and amount of sleep resulting in higher levels of burnout. The proposed study could give more insight into the mental and physiological processes behind athletic burnout. The relationship between perfectionism, anxiety, sleep, and burnout is one that requires further research but may be useful information for coaches, parents, and athletes to prevent athletic burnout.

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