Journey to the top: The non-linear path of identity foreclosure and exploration and its implications for mental health in female professional athletes
Creators: name: Farello, Anna
name: Trajkovski, Maya
name: Massey, William V.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Science Policy
subject: Mental Health

description: Female professional athletes confront unique stressors. While there is emerging research in mental health and sport, there is an ongoing need to conduct research that examines the complexities and intersections of mental health and sport through time. Through narrative inquiry and, more specifically, a life story approach, the ebbs and flows of mental health throughout the sporting careers of professional female athletes were explored. Nine female professional athletes across four countries and seven sports completed three interviews each. The first two interviews were unstructured and allowed athletes to share their life stories of sport and mental health. The final interview was semi-structured where athletes shared personal examples based on “life story” prompts. An inductive, narrative analysis was used to analyze athletes’ narrative histories. Across athletes’ lives, athletic excellence and mental health were inextricably linked, as were athletic low points (particularly athletic injury) and mental ill health. The overall narrative was interpreted as <i>the non-linear path of identity foreclosure and exploration</i>. This narrative comprised four sections related to a narrative plot: the exposition is about developing an athletic identity; the conflict and rising action relate to questioning the athletic identity; the climax is about rupturing the athletic identity, and the resolution is about reconstructing the athletic identity. Our findings highlight the dynamic roles of sport and mental health across a female professional athlete’s life; namely, that protecting one’s holistic health may depend on exploring alternatives to one’s athletic identity. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are offered. Female professional athletes face unique stressors. This research used a narrative life story approach to explore the sport and mental health journeys of nine professional female athletes. The overarching narrative relates to athletes’ non-linear path of developing, questioning, rupturing, and reconstructing their athletic identity. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICEUniversity- and professional-level stakeholders must identify diverse dimensions of success and share these with athletes to encourage alternative identity exploration and discourage identity foreclosure.Youth sport practitioners and parents should consider implementing practices that de-emphasize win-at-all-cost mindsets (i.e., positive youth development) to foster young athletes’ healthy relationship with sport. University- and professional-level stakeholders must identify diverse dimensions of success and share these with athletes to encourage alternative identity exploration and discourage identity foreclosure. Youth sport practitioners and parents should consider implementing practices that de-emphasize win-at-all-cost mindsets (i.e., positive youth development) to foster young athletes’ healthy relationship with sport.