Athletic retirement: factors contributing to sleep and mental health problems

• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1350925
• Publication Date: 2024-03-15T04:42:41Z
• Authors: Ashley Montero; John Baranoff; Robert Adams; Murray Drummond
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; depression; gender; Psychology; sleep disorders; sport; anxiety; recency of retirement; BF1-990

IntroductionThe aim of this investigation was to determine which factors were associated with symptoms of sleep and mental health disorders in former athletes.MethodsFormer athletes (N = 173, 50% women) who retired from any competition level within the last 20 years participated in an online survey. The survey consisted of the Athlete Sleep Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ), Personal Wellbeing Index-Adult (PWI-A), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R), and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7).ResultsBinary logistic regressions revealed that both age (OR = 0.95 [95% CI:0.92, 0.99], p = 0.007) and gender (OR = 2.28 [95% CI:1.09, 4.79], p = 0.029) were associated with anxiety, with women and younger ex-athletes presenting greater risk of anxiety symptoms. Higher body mass was associated with an increased risk for sleep difficulty (OR = 1.13 [95% CI:1.03, 1.23], p = 0.008), sleep disordered breathing (OR = 1.20 [95% CI:1.10, 1.30], p < 0.001), and compromised wellbeing (OR = 0.89 [95% CI:0.83, 0.96], p = 0.001). Athletes who subjectively placed a lower priority on sport while competing presented greater risk of sleep disordered breathing (OR = 2.00[95% CI:1.05, 3.80], p = 0.035). No associations between recency retirement and any outcome measures were observed.DiscussionFindings suggest potential predictive factors for difficulty transitioning out of sport. Future longitudinal research should consider the interplay between sport re-engagement and the incidence and chronicity of sleep and mental health disorders.