The aim of this investigation was to determine which factors were associated with symptoms of sleep and mental health disorders in former athletes.
Former 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).
Binary logistic regressions revealed that both age (OR = 0.95 [95% CI:0.92, 0.99],
Findings 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.