The purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of studies concerning the mental health (MH) of elite athletes and to provide a methodological, conceptual, and applied overview of factors affecting elite athletes' MH. A total of nine reviews and 43 empirical studies were evaluated and are reported in three sections: sample characteristics, research design, and factors affecting elite athletes' MH. These factors were grouped into risk and protective factors and divided into a personal and sport-environmental domain.The studies used quantitative (84%), qualitative (11%), and mixed-method (5%) designs and examined a wide range of sports in different countries. Our review shows that researchers have predominantly examined the prevalence of athletes' mental ill-health (e.g., depression) and the related factors compromising MH. Potential protective factors such as the feeling of autonomy, positive relations in sport and private life, and adequate recovery were highlighted in the qualitative studies. The discussion appraises the findings through a critical lens, focuses on the current state of the research area and the MH definition, limitations, suggested practical implications (e.g., to provide MH literacy to both athletes and coaches), and future research directions (e.g., examining environments that foster elite athletes' MH).

Objectives: The objectives of this study were (a) to examine athletic retirement of former Swiss, Danish, and Polish athletes; and (b) to explore the predictive power of factors on the quality of the transition. Based on existing transitional models, we developed a working model to investigate the predictive power of commonly assumed resources and barriers related to the transition (Park, Lavallee, & Tod, 2013). Design and Methods: Former international elite athletes from Switzerland (n = 231), Denmark (n = 86), and Poland (n = 84) from 35 different sports completed an online questionnaire in their native language. Mean/proportional differences across countries were explored using ANOVAs and chi-square tests. For each sample, a multiple regression analysis was performed with 26 predictors on the transition quality, which was a component score of seven variables. Results and Conclusions: More differences were found among individual characteristics (e.g., educational level, athletic identity, confidence in skills), whereas athletes reported a similar pattern concerning retirement planning and voluntariness to end their career regardless of the context. The adaptation process following the career end was easiest for Swiss athletes and most difficult for Polish athletes. Results of the multiple regressions revealed both common resources (e.g., voluntariness) and barriers (e.g., athletic identity), but also factors that worked as resources in one context, but as barriers in another (e.g., high sport-career income). We propose to avoid generalizations about resources and barriers influencing the transition, but to apply a culturally sensitive approach when studying athletic retirement in different contexts.

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The purpose of this qualitative study is (a) to explore and compare the beliefs and values of the stakeholders working in different national dual career environments, and (b) to enhance the understanding of the relationship between athletes' dual career trajectories and the respective environments. Twelve semi-structured interviews with key informants involved in dual career from Switzerland, Denmark and Poland were used to discussing benefits, obstacles and best practices of their national dual career settings. Interviews were content analysed in a deductiveinductive way using Schein's (2010) cultural framework. Besides the differences in support for elite athletes in higher education across the national contexts, the key informants expressed divergent values and attitudes, which were due to their opinions on how dual careers should be organised. These values were found to be linked to the ideologies of the welfare regimes in the given country. Since dual career practices and programmes are based on different underlying basic assumptions in the three contexts studied, divergent dual career trajectories are proposed to athletes as the typical way to combine elite sport and education. Based on the results of our cross-cultural comparison, we assert that culture is not only an influential but also a constituting factor in the development of dual career environments. Thus, we propose a culturally sensitive approach towards the dual career of athletes and invite professionals (e.g., coaches, career advisors and educational programme leaders) to critically reflect on their contextualised values about how to support dual career athletes.