University sport retirement and athlete mental health: a narrative analysis

ABSTRACT

When sport participation reaches competitive levels, it can become entangled with stressors such as injury, performance pressures, high internal and external expectations, and difficult retirement transitions. Retirement can leave individuals vulnerable to experiencing mental health challenges, particularly when an athlete has developed a strong athletic identity. In this study, narrative inquiry philosophy informed an exploration of the experiences of Bryn. Bryn is an elite, female university athlete who developed an adjustment disorder with mixed moods of depression and anxiety after retiring from sport and graduating from university. Seven life history interviews were conducted and a dialogical narrative analysis was used to examine the influence of the structure of the sport context on Bryn’s experience of a challenging retirement transition. While she was an athlete, the success and recognition Bryn experienced in her sport community represented a powerful platform for developing self-confidence and a strong athletic identity. When this platform was removed upon retirement, and access to resource and support networks contingent on her star-athlete status were no longer available, Bryn had significant difficulty coping with threats to her mental health. The findings from this study lead us to question whether the significant support and special access to services provided to university sports stars may potentially leave such individuals vulnerable to feelings of isolation and helplessness once outside the university-athlete role.

KEYWORDS:

• Athlete
• mental health
• university sport
• elite sport
• retirement
• support resources
• transition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachel Jewett

Rachel Jewett has a Masters of Exercise Science and is currently a first year Masters student in clinical psychology. Her research interests involve university and elite athlete mental health and well-being, including the relationship between the sport context and athletes’ experiences of mental health challenges. Rachel is also conducting research examining athletes’ experiences with mental healthcare.

Gretchen Kerr

Dr. Gretchen Kerr is a Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the psychosocial health of young people in elite sport, including retirement transitions, and maltreatment within the coach-athlete relationship. She also publishes in the area of coaching and the promotion of developmentally appropriate coaching behaviours. Professor Kerr is a member of several editorial boards and serves as a volunteer harassment officer for various sport organisations.

Katherine Tamminen

Dr. Katherine Tamminen is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include stress, coping, and emotions among athletes, interpersonal processes of emotion and emotion regulation, and parent-athlete communication in sport.