Factors Influencing Post-Retirement Adjustment and Flourishing among Retired Professional Athletes of Sindh and Punjab

Background: Retirement is a crucial shift in life that affects a person socially, mentally, and financially. Improper planning of retirement can affect the quality of life, flourishing, and overall well-being. Objectives: The current study aimed to explore the personal and retirement-related factors influencing post-retirement adjustment and flourishing among retired professional athletes of Sindh and Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed, with a snowball sampling technique used to recruit 200 retired professional athletes. A self-administered questionnaire was developed, comprising a demographic sheet and two pre-validated tools, including the Retirement Adjustment Scale and the Flourishing Scale. SPSS was used to analyze the collected data, including tests such as Descriptive Statistics, Pearson’s Correlation, Independent samples t-test, and Analysis of Variance (p ≤ 0.05). Results: Half of the athletes were male. Fifty-two percent of the respondents had played nationally, and 69% of the athletes retired voluntarily. The mean retirement age was 33.22 ± 9.89 years. Post-retirement adjustment among professional athletes had a weak positive correlation with flourishing (r = .25, p < .001). Moreover, female athletes and those who had better social and emotional support scored higher regarding post-retirement adjustment and flourishing compared to their counterparts (p ≤ .05). Older retired athletes (p < .001), those who retired 11-30 years ago (p = .002), and those who were well prepared for retirement (p < .001), had better adjustment post-retirement compared to younger retired athletes, those who retired 1-10 years ago, and those who were not well prepared, respectively. Lastly, flourishing was higher among employed retired athletes compared to unemployed athletes (p = .002). Conclusion: These findings reflect that proper retirement planning, post-retirement employment, and having social and emotional support from family and friends are crucial to avoid adjustment issues and foster flourishing among retired athletes.