Abstract
Youth competitive sports expose athletes to substantial physical and psychological demands, yet the mechanisms through which physiological stress translates into psychological burnout remain insufficiently understood. Existing research has seldom examined emotional intelligence (EI) together with key recovery-related variables such as sleep quality, fatigue, and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), nor has it clarified whether these relationships differ across sport types. Drawing on data from 450 collegiate athletes, this study investigated the combined and moderating effects of EI, sleep quality, fatigue, and DOMS on burnout, and compared these pathways between team and individual sports. Results showed that sleep quality served as a protective factor against burnout (β = -0.21, p < 0.001), whereas fatigue (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and DOMS (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) were strong predictors of psychological exhaustion. EI consistently buffered the effects of these physiological stressors (β = -0.09 to -0.14, p < 0.01), indicating that athletes with higher EI preserve psychological resources more effectively under physical strain. Multi-group analysis revealed that fatigue and DOMS were more influential in team sports, while the protective role of EI was more pronounced in individual sports. These findings extend current psychophysiological models by demonstrating that burnout arises from both excessive physical load and insufficient psychological resources. The study concludes that recovery routines alone are unlikely to prevent burnout and highlights the need to integrate EI development with systematic load management and sport-specific support strategies to promote both performance sustainability and long-term mental well-being.