How Resilience Shapes the Impact of Athletic Burnout on Life Satisfaction

Abstract Burnout is a growing concern in the general population and particularly in high-performance fields like elite sports and is often linked to lower life satisfaction. Identifying psychological buffers that explain individual differences in burnout's impact can guide strategies to protect mental wellbeing. This study builds on Grebner et al. (2024), who found in a cross-sectional study that self-compassion and self-efficacy buffer the detrimental impact of athletic burnout on life satisfaction, by adding a longitudinal perspective. A total of 400 athletes (Mage = 22.46, range = 16-40; 264 female, 135 male, 1 diverse) from various sports participated in an online survey via SoSciSurvey at five 12-week intervals. To replicate these findings, four moderation analyses (self-compassion, self-efficacy, sense of coherence, ability to bounce back; pcorrected = .013) revealed that only self-compassion showed a significant effect (p < .001; F(7,392) = 24.71, p < .001), buffering the negative impact of reduced sense of accomplishment on life satisfaction. Complementary four longitudinal random intercepts cross-lagged panel models for each resilience factor demonstrated that self-compassion (p = .041; CFI = .813; RMSEA = .061) moderated the association between reduced sense of accomplishment and life satisfaction, whereas the ability to bounce back (p = .008; CFI = .885; RMSEA = .046) moderated the relationship between emotional/physical exhaustion and life satisfaction, indicating a buffering effect in both cases. Cross-sectional results were in line with Grebner et al. (2024), indicating that self-compassion moderates the negative link between reduced sense of accomplishment and life satisfaction. Longitudinally, the ability to bounce back and self-compassion emerged as significant moderators of the effect of burnout on life satisfaction, highlighting their relevance for intra-individual changes. Findings may also be relevant for other high-performance settings. Key messages • Self-compassion buffers the negative impact of burnout cross-sectionally, explaining individual differences. • Self-compassion and the ability to bounce back moderates the effect longitudinally, supporting intraindividual resilience over time.