The Many Faces of Athlete Burnout in Elite and Amateur Sport Identified Through Cluster Analysis

Burnout is a multidimensional syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, with significant implications for athletes’ health, motivation, and performance. This study examined burnout in high-performance and amateur athletes by integrating sociodemographic variables and identifying profiles through cluster analysis. Results showed that both groups presented high levels of burnout across the three dimensions, with no major differences between competitive levels. This finding suggests that burnout is a transversal phenomenon in sport and that vulnerability is not determined solely by status, but also by athletes’ subjective success criteria and perceptions of achievement. Cluster analysis identified four differentiated profiles: healthy, partial, mixed, and global burnout. The predominance of partial profiles, characterized by reduced personal accomplishment, highlights the central role of subjective feelings of success in athlete well-being. Mixed and global profiles, representing multidimensional and more severe manifestations, confirm the complex nature of the syndrome and the need for tailored interventions. The identification of profiles provides a valuable framework for screening and designing prevention strategies adjusted to risk levels. In practice, prevention should focus on strengthening athletes’ sense of accomplishment, fostering adaptive coping, and monitoring training load in both elite and amateur contexts. These findings emphasize the importance of considering not only structural or contextual factors but also personal definitions of success, which appear central in understanding burnout vulnerability across sport settings.