Abstract
Purpose: During their dual career pathways, student-athletes manage academic and athletic commitments thus developing different combinations of academic and athletic identity (Yukhymenko-Lescroart, 2024). The purpose of the present investigation is to cluster these different identities and to examine them in relation to satisfaction with academic and sport performance and well-being.
Methods: Two hundred twenty-three Italian student-athletes were involved in this study and completed a set of self-report measures: the Academic and Athletic Identity Scale (AAIS; Yukhymenko-Lescroart, 2014), two single items measuring the satisfaction with academic and sport performance (Arnold et al., 2017), the Athlete Psychological Well-Being Inventory (APWBI; Santi et al., 2024), and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form measuring subjective, social and psychological well-being (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2002). Cluster analysis allowed to group participants according to their identity profiles, then three ANOVAs and one MANOVAs were run to observe difference in terms of satisfaction with performance and wellbeing.
Results: Cluster analysis revealed four clusters with committed student-athletes (n = 79), committed athletes and disengaged students (n = 28), committed students and disengaged athletes (n = 39), and disengaged student-athletes (n = 77). These four clusters differed in terms of satisfaction with academic (p<0.001) and sport (p<0.001) performances, precursors of well-being, athletic well-being (p<0.001), and mental health (p = 0.001), with disengagement being generally prodromal of decreased satisfaction and poor wellbeing in one or more areas.
Conclusions: In conclusion, the present study shed light on how different identity profiles lead to diverse conditions of well-being and may suggest directions for intervention. In particular, student-athletes committed to both sport and studies show greater satisfaction with sport and academic achievements and higher levels of well-being. Being committed to one between sport and studies leads anyway to high levels of well-being. Being disengaged on both sport and studies leads to dissatisfaction with one’s own sport and academic achievements and poor levels of well-being.