ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
The impact of alumni football on adult mental well-being: A serial mediation analysis of athletic identity and social connectedness
Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
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Abstract
Background: Escalating life pressures among adults are increasingly associated with social isolation. Distinct from general team sports, "Alumni Football" facilitates a unique dual-mechanism of identity restoration and social reconnection, particularly for adults navigating the loss of former athletic roles. However, the specific pathways through which re-established athletic identity relates to social connectedness and correlates with well-being remain under-explored. Methods: This study employs a cross-sectional design involving 240 alumni football participants. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), it systematically analyzes the structural relationships between participation, athletic identity, social connectedness, and mental well-being. Results: The data analysis delineates a specific chain mediation path: actual participation is positively associated with athletic identity, which is linked to social connectedness, ultimately correlating with mental well-being. Notably, while athletic identity serves as a crucial link, it exhibits no significant direct association with mental well-being (β = 0.05). This finding implies that athletic identity alone, lacking the support of social connectedness, may be insufficient to relate to improved psychological health during the transition out of competitive contexts. Conclusion: Findings underscore the positive relationship between alumni football and adult mental well-being, highlighting social connectedness as the core mediator. The study suggests leveraging alumni networks for mental well-being interventions, advocating a strategic pivot from merely emphasizing "exercise volume" to cultivating identity-based "sporting communities" to potentially mitigate social isolation risks.
Summary
Keywords
alumni football, Athletic identity, Mental well-being, serial mediation, social connectedness
Received
04 January 2026
Accepted
18 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Jiao Wang
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