Exploring the Relationship Between Cheerleading Injury, Coping Skills, and Athlete Burnout with Performance

Abstract

Cheerleading is transitioning from a dance-like activity to an acrobatic, gymnastic-like sport. In the process, injuries have increased substantially, including higher rates of catastrophic injury. To date, no studies have addressed the psychological wellness of performers in relation to injury rates among cheerleaders, or used these psychometric measures over short time-frames. This study has two main objectives. Objective #1 is to explore the difference in scores between the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke & Smith,

and the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28; Smith, Schutz,

Smoll, & Ptacek, 1995) over a short duration, high-intensity performance timeframe. Objective #2 is to explore the possible relationship between psychological variables from the ABQ and the ACSI-28, in terms of injuries, over a short period, high-intensity time-frame to see if they are related to: performance errors and injuries. These objectives were accomplished with a prospective study of injury surveillance using descriptive data from psychometric questionnaires for a cheerleading team of 37 athletes (8 males, 29 females) from the Canadian Football League (CFL) with a mean age of 22.2 years. The team was followed over a high intensity, 4-day performance schedule, using the ABQ and the ACSI- 28 that were completed pre- and post-performance, to explore a possible relationship between short-term changes in the psychometric ratings of burnout and coping with performance. Performance was measured by tracking rates of performance error and injury during the 4-day intensive performance schedule. During the football game event, 20 errors were noted, involving 40 athletes and causing injuries. The number of injuries increased each day for the 4-day schedule (Day 1 = 2 injuries, Day 2 = 3 injuries, Day 3 = 4 injuries, Day 4 = 5 injuries). Paired t-tests were used to compare the changes pre- and postpsychometric measures, with statistically significant changes found in the athletes’ perception of coping with adversity (t = 2.2; p = .05) and freedom from worry (t = 2.6; p = .02). No statistically significant changes were seen in athlete burnout, though the athletes scored higher than average for each subset, compared to normative values at Time 1. Emotional and physical exhaustion levels increased (Time 1: M = 2.4, SD = .82; Time 2: M = 2.7, SD = .64); however, the athletes reported an increased sense of accomplishment (Time 1: M = 2.0, SD = .53; Time 2: M = 1.9, SD = .40) after completing the 4-day intensive performance schedule. In this study, athlete errors and safety risks increased during the high volume performance schedule. Little change occurred in the psychometric variables pre- and post-performance, but a correlation was seen between the pre- and post-testing of the ABQ (r =.82) and in comparing the ABQ with the ACSI-28 (r = .49).