Development and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of a New Measure of Athlete Burnout: The Athlete Burnout Scale

In light of recent concerns on the validity of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire, the aim of the present multistudy research was to examine the psychometric properties of a new measure of athlete burnout: the Athlete Burnout Scale (ABO-S). Three studies, involving 1,034 French high-level competitive adolescent athletes (M-age = 18.07), were conducted to provide evidence for the substantive, structural, and external stages of construct validation of the ABO-S. A preliminary version of the ABO-S was developed based on suggestions of an expert panel and athletes' rating of the scale clarity (Study 1). Results of the structural analyses revealed that a bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling with a general factor and 3 dimensions of athlete burnout (i.e., physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and negative feelings toward sport) fit the data well (Study 2). Patterns of relationships between the ABO-S scores, the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire scores, and the motivational regulations provided support for the external stage of the ABO-S construct validation (Study 3). As a whole, the present studies provided support for the reliability and validity of the ABO-S scores.