Depression is a common mental psychological disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration (WHO, 2011). Burnout, in contrast, has been defined as a reaction to chronic stress that involves negative interactions between the environment and personal characteristics (Smith, 1986; Dalea and Weinberga, 1990). These problems together with stress can become chronic or recurrent and can substantially impair an individual’s ability to take care of his or her everyday responsibilities. High levels of perceived stress and burnout have been reported in a variety of service professions, including among social workers, physicians, psychologists, police officers, lawyers, and counselors (Taylora, 1992). As stress and burnout are constructs that can have a negative influence on those working in human service or helping professions, the importance of managing stress has been firmly emphasized by the medical community.
The theoretical framework proposed by Smith (1986) asserts that personal and situational characteristics influence the perception of stress, and, in turn, perception of stress influences the level of burnout.
The problem has been extensively studied in athletic trainers (Capel, 1986; Hendrix et al., 2000). The higher frequency and intensity of burnout was associated with role conflict, role ambiguity, a greater number of athletes to care for, a decreased resource base, and a greater number of hours needed to provide for the athletes. Athletic trainers are exposed to a unique set of stressors, similar to health service professionals. These stressors can include high athlete-to-athletic-trainer ratio, minimal financial support, and dual-role responsibilities such as head athletic trainer and curriculum director or clinical instructor. Other stressors that athletic trainers experience are associated with relationships with athletes, parents, coaches, administrators, and physicians. These factors can lead to high stress levels, which in turn can influence burnout (Burke and Greenglass, 1989).
Several factors are considered responsible for stress and depression disorder. A number of investigators have examined the sources of stress and consequently depression among sport referees. These sources were fear of failure, fear of physical harm, interpersonal conflicts, time pressure, and peer conflicts, and these fears have emerged consistently among soccer, volleyball, football, and baseball officials (Taylora and Daniel, 1987; Goldsmith and Williams, 1992). Again, a significant correlation between sources of stress scores and burnout scores among soccer referees was recorded (Taylor et al., 1990).
Sport referees have a challenging job because of the many aspects of a game/match that they must take into account, the speed and complexity of the decisions they must make, the repercussions of their actions, the number of people involved in the match, and often the hostile nature of spectators at the sports event (Guillén and Feltz, 2011). Thus, the complexity of the job makes it easy to commit mistakes for which they are often criticized (Anderson and Pierce, 2009), usually by the sports media (Guillen, 2006).
Referee efficacy beliefs are hypothesized to be influenced by mastery of the game, knowledge/education of the referee, support from significant others, physical/mental preparedness, environmental comfort, and perceived anxiety. Accordingly, these beliefs may influence referee performance, referee stress, athlete rule violations, athlete satisfaction, and coreferee satisfaction (Guillén and Feltz, 2011).
The officiating task of referees and the possible mistakes inherent in their job can lead to loss of confidence, high anxiety, and increased stress levels in referees; it has been found that anxiety levels and their causes are similar across different sports (e.g. soccer, basketball, volleyball) (Taylora and Daniel, 1987; Anshela and Weinbergb, 1995).
Referees are expected to be more accurate in their decisions, more effective in their performance, more committed to their profession, to have more respect from coaches, administrators, and other officials, and be able to avoid the stress that officiating generates. They need to be physically prepared to handle the physical requirements of the sport they officiate and be able to combat the psychological stressors associated with this unique position.
For many decades sports have played significant roles in the everyday lives of individuals. Sports may include either individual or group games for athletes. In both cases highly qualified coaches, referees, officials, and others are required for excellent performance. Much attention has been paid to their physical endurance and wellness, whereas psychological factors have been ignored.
During the last decade, sports psychiatry was not an issue of concern during physical checkup in sports, whether for athletes, coaches, or referees. The only examination considered vital was that of the heart and chest to avoid exhaustion during the match. Ear, nose, throat, and eye examinations were performed for their crucial importance in decision making, such as determining penalties, and for far viewing of the match.
The task of football refereeing and the peculiarities of the refereeing task itself require special abilities because of the fact that referees are observed by hundreds and thousands of fans in each match/game and that there are many people – athletes, coaches, managers, fans – trying to exert an influence on each of the referee’s decisions. Thus, the complexity of the officiating task itself has led to the design of a new model that necessitates the addition of psychological and psychiatric aspects that play a determining role for the referee.
The particular duties of sports officials in matches necessitates the investigation of the psychological consequences of this unique type of involvement in sports. Officials need to be physically prepared to handle the physical requirements of the sport they officiate and be able to combat the associated psychological stressors.
The present study is an attempt to emphasize the importance of adding a new parameter to the annual regular clinical examination for referees because of its vital importance in deciding the physical fitness of the referee in terms of being able to judge for the full duration of the match and in the case of any extra time. The study compares between different tools used for the identification of burnout, stress, and depression levels among referees in an attempt to decide which model best suits the issue. The study also aimed to explore the utility of different inventories in predicting anxiety, stress, burnout, and depression in certified referees from the African Confederation of Football (CAF).
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