The Impact of Recalling Past Athletic Experiences on the Sense of Meaning in Transitioning Collegiate Athletes: A Dual Mediation Model of Emotional Balance and Identity Exploration

Background Transitioning collegiate athletes, particularly those who have withdrawn from professional sports due to injury or performance decline, often face psychological challenges related to identity loss and diminished life meaning. This study explores whether recalling past athletic experiences can serve as an effective psychological intervention to enhance the sense of meaning in this population and examines the underlying mechanisms of this effect. Methods Two randomized controlled experiments were conducted involving former high-level student-athletes now enrolled in university. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group that recalled structured autobiographical athletic experiences or a control group that recalled general life events. Outcome variables included presence of meaning, search for meaning, emotional balance, and identity exploration. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze intervention effects, and mediation analyses were conducted using bootstrapping procedures. Results The experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvements than the control group across all four outcome variables (ps < .01). Mediation analyses revealed two distinct mechanisms: emotional balance partially mediated the effect of the intervention on the presence of meaning, while identity exploration partially mediated the effect on the search for meaning. Additionally, Experiment 2 confirmed that recalling athletic experiences yielded stronger effects on identity-related outcomes compared to recalling general life experiences. Conclusions Recalling past athletic experiences offers unique psychological benefits for transitioning athletes by enhancing emotional regulation and stimulating identity exploration. These findings support the use of structured memory recall as a targeted intervention to promote meaning construction and identity reconstruction in athletic retirement contexts. Future applications should consider individual emotional readiness and cultural context to optimize intervention outcomes. Trial registration: Not applicable. The study was ethically approved by the Department of Science and Technology, Sichuan Institute of Industrial Technology (Approval date: December 1, 2024).