Perfectionism, Burnout, and Depressive Symptoms in Youth Soccer Players: Moderation by Empowering and Disempowering Climates

Youth soccer players face considerable pressure as they pursue a successful career in the sport. Research shows that some players navigate these pressures better than others, with the immediate coaching environment playing a key role. We examined the relationship between different perfectionism subtypes, and burnout, and depressive symptoms in youth soccer, and whether perceptions of empowering and disempowering climate moderated these relationships. Two-hundred and sixty-six youth male soccer academy players completed measures of perfectionism, burnout, depressive symptoms, and empowering and disempowering climate. Moderated regression analyses typically supported the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model and differentiated between subtypes for burnout and depressive symptoms. A more empowering climate also decreased one aspect of burnout—devaluation—in three of four subtypes. The findings show that some perfectionism subtypes are related to higher burnout and depressive symptoms in youth soccer, and an empowering climate might help reduce burnout for most subtypes.