Stress and Burnout in Female High School Athletic Directors

In the current study we examined the relationships between stress pre­ dictors, stress, and burnout in female high school athletic directors (N = 52). Significant negative correlations between stress and hardiness and between stress and number of social support providers were found. Significant positive correlations between stress and time concerns, per­ sonnel concerns, and program success (e.g., winning) subscales of the athletic directing issues scale were also found. Subjects high in hardiness and with adequate social support networks, who also reported few athlet­ ic directing issues, were likely to report minimal stress. Significant posi­ tive correlations also indicated that stress was related to the burnout dimensions o f emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accom plishm ent. Based on our results we supported and extended Kelley’s (1993; 1994) model of stress and burnout with a population of female athletic directors. Stress and burnout are common in helping professions such as counseling and teaching (Maslach, 1982). Researchers have exam ­ ined the relationships between stress and burnout in teacher-coachWSPAJ Vol 8, No. 1 Spring 1999 101 Martin, Kelley and Dias es, athletic trainers, and special physica l e d u ca tio n teachers (Caccese & M ayerberg, 1984; Capel, Sisley, & D esertrain, 1987; Dale & Weinberg, 1990; DePaepe, French, & Lavay, 1985 ; Kelley, 1 9 9 4 ; Kelley & Gill, 1993; Pastore & Judd, 1993; Sm ith, 1986; Vealey, Udry, Zimmerman, & Soliday, 1 9 2). H ow ever, little stress and burnout research examining ath letic directors has been conducted (Copeland & Kirseh, 1995; H at m a n , 1981; Mart in, Kelley, & Eklund, in press), Additionally, because lim ited research has focused on females it is not clear if fe m ale athletic directors, similar to female coaches and teachers, suffer fro m burnout. Thus, the goal of the current study was t0 exam ine stress and burnout among female high school athletic directors, We examined athletic directors because, sim ilar to teachers and coaches, they work in an environment which m ay be stressful. Athletic directors interact with people in. em otionally charged situations (e.g., coaches, parents).. Extensive interpersonal interaction, coupled with emotionally charged issues., can add additional stress to an already stressfu l situation (C opeland & Kirsc h, 1995; Masiach,. 1982). It is common for athletic directors in high school to fulfill multiple roles, such as leaching or coaching in addition to athletic directing (Martin et at,, in press). Role confl ict and role ambiguity, associated with dual roles, have been show n to be relat­ ed to burnout in high school coaches (Capel, Sisley, & Desertrain, 1987; Kelley, 1990). In brief, athletic directors w ork in environ­ ments and perform functions that can be stressful. It is also important to examine stress and burnout because both can contribute to negative health (e.g., insomnia, weight loss) consequences (Masiach,, 1982). Additionally, it. has been suggested that physical education teachers suffering from burnout tend to provide less reinforcement and interact less with their students (Mancini, Wuest, Vantine, & Clark, 1984). Furthermore, stress and burnout'can contribute to prem ature career cessa tion (Sparks, 1.979). Presumably, stressed and burned out athletic directors may also be. susceptible to the above difficulties. Finally, preliminary research with NCAA division I, II, III athletic directors found they “almost always” felt stress was evident in their careers (Copeland & Kirsch, 1995) and male high school athletic directors have also r e p o r te d stress (Martin et al., in press). To conduct the current investigation w e used K elley ’s (1.9:94) model of stress and burnout to guide o ur research qu.es102 WSPAJ Vol 8, No. 1 Spring 1999 Martin, Kelley and Dias It is important to differentiate between stress and burnout. Stress refers to overall feelings of acute anxiety, discomfort, and frustration (Cohen, Kamarck, & M erm elstein, 1983). Lazarus (1990) suggested that people experience stress when they believe their abilities or resources are inadequate to meet the demands of a particular situation or task. For example, insufficient time and energy to accomplish important career tasks often results in stressrelated feelings and thoughts. It is believed that frequent and/or intense interactions with people often lead to stress and, subse­ quently, burnout. According to Masiach (1982, p. 30) burnout is “a response to the chronic emotional strain of dealing extensively with other human beings.” Maher (1983) defines burnout as the culmination of experiencing consistent stress and Williams and Miller (1.982) viewed burnout as chronic stress. In brief, chronic stress can lead to burnout. Burnout is most frequently conceptual­ ized as involving three related dimensions. Emotional exhaustion refers to a lack of affect such as enthusiasm. Depersonalization refers to emotional hardening and a lack of empathy. Finally, per­ sonal accomplishment reflects feelings of reduced self-satisfaction from career related tasks. Kelley (1990; 1994), through the model, postulates a vari­ ety of social-psychological predictors of stress, which in turn, is a prediction of burnout. Kelley (1994) in a study of baseball and softball coaches, examined five predictors of stress: social support, hardiness, coaching issues, gender, and winning percentage. In the current study we examined three antecedents of stress selected from Kelley’s model (1994). Hardiness and social support, are thought to buffer the effects o f stress (Cohen. & Wills, 1985; Nowacki, 1991). Hardiness is an attitude characterized by people who view problems as challenges to be faced, with a sense of com ­ mitment and personal control (Nowacki, 1991). Social support encompasses both the quantity of social support available and the meaningfulness o f re lationships or quality o f social support (Cohen & Wills, 1985). The third stress antecedent we examined was issues specif­ ic to the career responsibilities of athletic directors because it is has been shown that career issues are contribu tors to stress (Kelley, 1994; Kelley & Gill, 1993; Martin et al., in press). Similar to Kelley (1994), we looked at four categories of issues unique to athletic directors" management roles. Two sets of issues include 104 WSPAJ Vol 8, No. 1 Spring 1999