Individual and team sports athletes in the transition from junior to senior sports

Sammanfattning: This quantitative study deals with the transition from junior to senior sports comparing individual (ISA) and team (TSA) sports athletes in terms of: (a) differences between transition and personal variables, (b) relationships between transition and personal variables, (c) contributions of some transition and personal variables into the quality of adjustment on the senior level of sport. There were 195 participants, ISA (n = 49) and TSA (n = 146). Four instruments were used: the Transition Monitoring Survey, the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire and the Physical Self Perception Profile (revised). Thirty significant differences in the transition and personal variables were found. There was a common pattern in the correlations between transition and personal variables and specific patterns for ISA and TSA. Coping strategies, body attractiveness, athletic identity and physical self-value appeared to be predictors for the quality of adjustment for ISA and coping strategies, ego orientation and physical self-value for TSA. The results are discussed in relation to theoretical frameworks and previous research.