Development of the Life After Sports Transition (LAST) Online Course for Collegiate Student-Athletes: Pretest-Posttest Study.

Transitioning into athletic retirement can have negative impacts on college student-athletes' well-being, yet few educational programs exist to help augment college student-athlete preparation for embracing life after sports. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a new Life After Sports Transition (LAST) online course for college student-athletes. A single group pretest-post-test study evaluated effects of the LAST course among a convenience sample of college student-athletes attending a NCAA Division I university. Paired sample t-tests examined changes in athletic identity, psychological well-being, hope, and self-reflection/insight. Findings showed a decrease in athletic identity scores from pretest to posttest, which approached statistical significance (P = .06). However, contrary to our hypotheses, participants also reported lower scores on self-reflection/insight (P = .004, Hedges g = 1.65) at post-test. Despite these counter intuitive findings, participants rated the LAST course highly on most distance education quality dimensions. While student-athlete participation in the LAST course was associated with a decline in athletic identity, findings suggest that future life after sport transition programs focus more on introspective mediators of lifestyle change (i.e., self-reflection) to foster more positive life transitions for college student-athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]