A conceptual model of adaptation to retirement among athletes

Changes in Athletic Identity and Life Satisfaction of Elite Athletes as a Function of Retirement Status

“…Retirement because of goal satisfaction or lost motivation, on the other hand, is considered to be normative or voluntary (Stambulova, 2000;Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994).…”

“…The degree of voluntariness of sports career termination has also been highlighted as affecting adjustment to life after sport with voluntary career termination associated with fewer adaptation difficulties (Cecic Erpic, Wylleman, & Zupancic, 2004;Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994).…”

Career transitions in sport: European perspectives

“…As empirical findings revealed that the adjustment process to postathletic life was mediated, among others, by the voluntariness with which athletes retired and their preparation for a life after sport (e.g., Alfermann & Gross, 1997;Webb, Nasco, Riley, & Headrick, 1998;Wheeler, Malone, VanVlack, Nelson, & Steadward, 1996), the focus of research gradually broadened to the pre-and post career ending phases. While transition models incorporated a wider range of influence than gerontological and thanatological models, and allowed for the possibility of both positive and negative adjustment (Crook & Robertson, 1991), they were still found to lack operational detail of the specific components related to the adjustment process among athletes (Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994). More comprehensive conceptual models of adaptation to career transition were consequentially proposed (e.g., Gordon, 1995;Kerr & Dacyshyn, 2000;Ogilvie & Taylor, 1993;Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994.…”

“…While transition models incorporated a wider range of influence than gerontological and thanatological models, and allowed for the possibility of both positive and negative adjustment (Crook & Robertson, 1991), they were still found to lack operational detail of the specific components related to the adjustment process among athletes (Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994). More comprehensive conceptual models of adaptation to career transition were consequentially proposed (e.g., Gordon, 1995;Kerr & Dacyshyn, 2000;Ogilvie & Taylor, 1993;Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994. For example, Taylor and Ogilvie's (1998) domain-specific model which examines the entire course of the career transition process includes (a) the causal factors that initiate the career transition process, (b) the developmental factors related to transition adaptation, (c) the coping resources that affect the responses to career transitions, (d) the quality of adjustment to career transition, and (e) possible treatment issues for distressful reactions to career transition.…”

“…In view of the possible traumatic experience of the termination of the athletic career suggested in earlier research, a number of traditional therapeutic approaches, including cognitive restructuring, stress management and emotional expression, has been recommended as techniques to facilitate post-retirement adjustment among elite athletes (Gordon, 1995;Ogilvie & Taylor, 1993;Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994). Other intervention strategies for practitioners working with athletes in transition, include the use of projective techniques (e.g., Bardaxoglou, 1997), a psycho-analytic approach (Chamalidis, 1995), an information processing approach, mentoring, and an existential psychology approach (Lavallee, Nesti, Borkoles, Cockerill, & Edge, 2000;Wylleman et al, 1999).…”