Characteristics of stress and burnout among Lithuanian university coaches: a pre-pandemic coronavirus and post-pandemic period comparison

EN(1) Background: The majority of studies analyzing associations between burnout, gender, and perceived stress have utilized a cross-sectional design. This present longitudinal study investigated associations between burnout, perceived stress, and gender compared during the prepandemic Coronavirus and post-pandemic period among Lithuanian university coaches. (2) Methods: 214 university coaches were randomly selected for the study. Study participants completed two measurements: one pre-pandemic and the second post-pandemic. (3) Results: Gender differences were identified on all burnout elements but not on perceived stress. Repeated measures (RM) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) results did not show a significant effect for the interaction between gender and time. Results of hierarchical (stepwise) regression analyses revealed that perceived stress after the pandemic predicted burnout levels for all three burnout components (exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced accomplishment) after the pandemic. (4) Conclusions: The current study contributes to the understanding of burnout components in relation to perceived stress through a longitudinal approach using a representative sample of Lithuanian university coaches. Keywords: coaches; burnout elements; exhaustion; depersonalization; reduced accomplishment; perceived stress.