Athlete burnout is a negative experience in sport that has adverse effects on individuals’ health and well-being. Early qualitative work highlighted the importance of considering the social context when examining athlete burnout. Yet, little research has been conducted on the social contributors of athlete burnout with a lack of attention paid to the role of teammates. Accordingly, this dissertation examined how teammates contribute to and/or change athletes’ perceptions of burnout through their interactions and communication.The purpose of study one was to examine the relationship between social interactions and athletes’ sport experiences and if loneliness explained this relationship. Adolescent athletes (N = 279) completed established measures of teammate-based interactions, loneliness, burnout, and engagement. Relationships differed by sex. Social support (β = -0.46) for girls, co-rumination (β = 0.19, 0.20) for girls and boys, respectively, and peer rejection (β = 0.23, 0.31) for girls and boys, respectively, predicted feelings of loneliness. For girls, (a) loneliness predicted athlete burnout (β = 0.24) and athlete engagement (β = -0.22) and (b) loneliness mediated the relationship of social support, co-rumination, and peer rejection with burnout and engagement. Results suggest that interactions among teammates contribute to loneliness in adolescent athletes, and, for girls, perceptions of loneliness contribute to burnout and engagement. The purpose of study two was to (a) examine the communication structure of sport teams and how communication linked with social perceptions and (b) examine if communication with teammates influenced athletes’ perceptions of burnout. Adolescent softball and baseball players (N = 176, 15 teams) completed network questions pertaining to the frequency of speaking with teammates and closest friends on their team as well as established measures of loneliness, relatedness, team identity, burnout and engagement twice during their season. Athletes with relatively low perceptions of relatedness and high feelings of loneliness were on the periphery of team networks. For all models, initial burnout perceptions predicted burnout perceptions at time two (βs = .37 to .40, all p < 0.001), explaining 14 to 15% of the variance in burnout perceptions at time two. Results indicate that communication with teammates did not heighten athletes’ perceptions of burnout over time. The purpose of study three was to (a) describe communication profiles of athletes and (b) examine the salience of these profiles by assessing profile group differences on athletes’ motivational sport experiences. Collegiate track and field athletes (N = 219) completed measures of team communication, team identity, burnout, engagement, enjoyment, and satisfaction at the end of their season. Three profiles were found: the Less Effective Communicators, the Supportive Communicators, and the Functional Communicators. Athletes with greater team identity were more likely to be in the Supportive Communicators profile (p < 0.001). Males were more likely to be in the Functional Communicators profile than the other two profiles (p = 0.01). The Less Effective Communicators had greater perceptions of burnout (ps < 0.01) and lower perceptions of engagement (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05), satisfaction (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001), and enjoyment (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05) than the Supportive and Functional Communicators. Supportive Communicators had greater satisfaction (p < 0.001) and enjoyment (p < 0.001) than the Functional Communicators. Results indicate that different profiles of communication occur in track and field with implications for athletes’ sport experiences. Collectively these studies suggest interactions with teammates can be salient contributors to athletes’ burnout perceptions.
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