Exploring transitions: Athletic retirement on exercise adherence, psychological well-being, and depressive symptoms in first-year university students

Loy, Caroline Rose

Item

Exploring transitions: Athletic retirement on exercise adherence, psychological well-being, and depressive symptoms in first-year university students

Loy, Caroline Rose

Date

2025-08-17

Abstract

Retiring from high school athletics and beginning university marks a significant transition in an athlete’s life (Ferrara et al., 2024). Previous literature has shown that athletic identity post-retirement affects first-year students’ mental health and affective responses (de la Vega, 2021; Holding et al., 2018). The current study analyzed how athletic identity influences exercise adherence, psychological well-being, and depressive symptoms in 185 first-year university students who were former high school athletes. Participants completed the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS; Brewer & Cornelius, 2001), Beck’s Depression Inventory – II (BDI- II; Beck et al., 1996), World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5; Topp et al., 2015), and International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ-SF; Craig et al., 2003) via Qualtrics. Results found that AIMS negative affect subscale was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = .27, p < .001). A negative correlation found with the AIMS negative affect subscale with psychological well-being (r = -.32, p < .001). A positive correlation was found with exercise adhernce with AIMS composite score (r = .18, p = .007), AIMS social identity subscale (r = .25, p < .001), and AIMS exclusivity subscale (r = .15, p = .017). Participants who reported higher levels of athletic identity were more likely to report higher levels of depression and exercise adherence, and lower levels of psychological well-being. However, less than 10% of the variance was found to be explained by athletic identity. This suggests that first-year university students who were former high school athletes may be predisposed to experience negative mental health and emotions due to the loss of their athletic identity as they also transition into a university.