Burnout Prevention in Male Team Sport: Intervention Implications from Reciprocal Associations with Psychological Safety

This study examined the prospective relationship between psychological safety and burnout among 126 male student-athletes in Japan to inform primary prevention of burnout in team sport. A three-wave cross-lagged panel model revealed that psychological safety reduced emotional and interpersonal exhaustion over two months, whereas interpersonal exhaustion undermined psychological safety within one month. Based on these temporally distinct dynamics, we propose a stepwise intervention framework: (1) building psychological safety during early team formation, (2) monitoring interpersonal exhaustion monthly, and (3) providing individual support when exhaustion is detected.