Cross-Lagged Associations between Gratitude and Adolescent Athlete Burnout

The current study aims to investigate the cross-lagged relationship between gratitude and adolescent athlete burnout through the corresponsive perspective of personality. Adolescent athletes completed surveys at two time points with a three-month interval. Current study used structural equation modeling to examine hypothesis. Contrary to previous studies, the results revealed that after controlling for the gender, age, and athlete burnout at time 1, gratitude at time 1 did not predict athlete burnout at time 2. However, this study found a reverse relationship by showing athlete burnout at time 1 negatively related to gratitude at time 2. The findings indicate that athletes’ experience of burnout might decrease dispositional gratitude. The mechanisms and the implications for measuring gratitude were discussed.