Preparation for Sports Retirement: Study Protocol

Official title

Preparation for Sports Retirement: Protocol for a Psychoeducational Program in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Overview

Background: This article presents the protocol for a randomised controlled trial designed to develop and evaluate a psychoeducational intervention aimed at preparing high-performance athletes for the challenges and opportunities presented by the transition to retirement from sport. The protocol was developed through a literature review and consultations with experts in sports psychology and career transition. Methods: The study will be conducted at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Salamanca (Spain). High-performance athletes aged 30 or older who are close to retirement or who have retired in the last five years will be recruited. Participants will be randomly assigned to two groups: the intervention group, which will undergo a psychoeducational programme consisting of 12 sessions over 3 months; and the control group, which will receive a minimum educational programme of one session. All participants will complete initial and final assessments, as well as a 3-month follow-up, collecting sociodemographic data and applying various psychological, social and health assessment instruments. Discussion: This protocol describes a comprehensive psychoeducational intervention aimed at improving quality of life and attitudes towards retirement from sport, increasing life satisfaction, psychological flexibility, perceived social support, general health, self-efficacy and self-regulation, and reducing negative stereotypes associated with the end of a sporting career. The evidence generated will guide future interventions, policies, and educational programmes to promote a healthy, active, and satisfying transition to the post-sport stage.

Interventions

• Behavioral Psychoeducational Programme
  The program aims to facilitate a positive and healthy transition from elite sport to retirement. Its objectives include improving Quality of Life, Life Satisfaction, Psychological Flexibility, Perceived Social Support, Health, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Regulation, while simultaneously mitigating stereotypes associated with aging and the end of the sports career.
• Behavioral Education Programme
  Participants will receive instructions and recommendations to facilitate a positive and healthy transition following retirement from elite sport. This minimally active intervention focuses on general guidelines for maintaining an active lifestyle and adapting to post-sport life, ensuring that the control group receives basic informational support without the structured psychoeducational sessions of the experimental group, which allows for an adequate comparison of effects.

Primary outcome measures

• World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure - Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]

Secondary outcome measures (11)

• Retirement Attitudes Scale (EAJ) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Questionnaire of Stereotypes towards Old Age (CENVE) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• The acceptance and action questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• MOS Questionnaire of Perceived Social Support (MOS) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale (EAG) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Self-Regulation Scale (EAR) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Athlete Retirement Questionnaire (ARQ) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]
• Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) [Time frame: Baseline; up to 24 weeks; 3 months follow up]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Participants will be included if they are within the critical transition period, defined as:

Five years prior to sports retirement, when the first signs of preparation and emotional anticipation begin.

Five years after retirement, the stage in which identity, psychological, and professional adaptation processes are consolidated.

This interval reflects the progressive nature of adaptation to sports retirement.

Exclusion criteria

• Athletes presenting any of the following conditions will be excluded from the study:

Significant literacy difficulties or relevant deficits in linguistic comprehension that prevent adequate participation in the psychoeducational sessions or the completion of assessment instruments.

Severe unstabilized medical or psychological conditions that may interfere with the normal development of the program (e.g., untreated severe depressive episodes, limiting neurological disorders).

Failure to meet the inclusion criteria, specifically not being within the five-year period prior to or after sports retirement or failing to verify high-performance sports experience.

Refusal to sign the informed consent or lack of availability to regularly attend the program sessions.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Single blind

Primary purpose

Prevention

Study locations

Spain · 1 center

• Castilla y León, Salamanca, Salamanca 37005 — Salamanca

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07303504 · USAL sports retirement

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗