Engagement and burnout as predictors of dual career outcomes in Finnish student-athletes: a longitudinal study

In this three-year longitudinal study, we examined (1) how cognitive engagement and burnout in sports and school predicted adolescent Finnish student-athletes’ sporting and educational outcomes, (2) whether these associations differed by gender, and (3) how engagement and burnout jointly contributed to student-athletes’ transitions to upper secondary sports schools. Student-athletes (aged 13 at Time 1; n = 208; 55% male, 45% female) completed questionnaires three times during lower secondary school, and their graduating grade point average, level of sports competition, and acquired study position in upper secondary education were obtained from the national study registry. The results showed that (a) males reported higher engagement in sports, whereas females reported higher engagement in school; (b) higher cognitive engagement was associated with lower burnout levels in both sports and school; (c) higher engagement in either domain increased the likelihood of competing at the national level and being accepted into upper secondary sports schools; (d) sports engagement predicted acceptance into upper secondary sports schools only among student-athletes without symptoms of sports burnout; and (e) higher school engagement predicted a higher graduating grade point average, whereas high sports engagement predicted a lower grade point average. These findings demonstrate how engagement and burnout interact across the school and sports domains and highlight the importance of school engagement, rather than sports engagement, in promoting successful dual career outcomes during the transition to upper secondary education.