Involvement in Special Olympics and its relations to self-concept and actual competency in participants with developmental disabilities

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Abstract

The current study examined the relations among components of a physical activity program, Special Olympics (SO), and the self-concepts (i.e., perceived physical competence, social acceptance, and general self-worth) and adaptive behaviors of individuals with developmental disabilities. This research can assist in the development of theoretical models of how physical activity programs can be implemented to effect psychological change. Participants consisted of a randomly selected group of 97 individuals with developmental disabilities, between 9 and 43 years of age, and their parents. Participants’ self-concepts and adaptive behaviors were measured both by direct interview and parental report. Examined program components consisted of the length of time affiliated to the organization, number of competitions attended, of hours spent in training, of sports, and of medals obtained. Multiple regression analyses suggest relations between specific components of SO and participants’ self-concepts and adaptive behaviors. These relations highlight the importance of competition and sport for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Section snippets

Self-concept in relation to psychological well-being

In typical development, a positive view of the self has been linked to emotional stability and positive adjustment (Sonstroem, 1997), to independence and resiliency to stress (Wylie, 1989), and inversely related to mental illness (Baumeister, 1993). Similar to typically developing individuals, negative self-concept in individuals with developmental disabilities has been associated with anger and depression (Benson & Ivins, 1992, Dagnan & Sandhu, 1999) and with low motivation and anxiety (Silon

Improving perceived competence, perceived social acceptance, and actual competency through physical activity programming: the case of Special Olympics

One possible way to improve the self-concept of individuals with developmental disabilities may be through the implementation of physical activity programs that serve to enhance participants’ actual competency while at the same time addressing issues of perceived competence and social acceptance. Research suggests that individuals with developmental disabilities are sensitive to changes in their environment in ways that impact their self-concepts (Schurr, Towne, & Joiner, 1972), and as such,

Participants

Ninety-seven (64 males, 33 females) participants from Ontario Special Olympics and their parents (90 mothers and 56 fathers) were involved in the study. The 97 participants were derived from a randomly selected sample of 150 members of Ontario Special Olympics, resulting in a 65% participation rate. A major strength of the present research was its attempt to be as representative as possible of the Ontario SO population. As such, participants were sampled from regional Special Olympics chapters

Results

Preliminary analyses examined the relations between SO components (the number of Years in the organization, of Competitions, of Sports, of Hours per week training, and of Medals and ribbons obtained) and participants’ self-concepts, parental views of participants’ self-concepts, and participants’ actual competency, by means of Pearson product-moment correlation. As not all parents reported information on all components, individual sample sizes for each component are reported. Components found

Discussion

By examining and comparing the relations among numerous Special Olympics components and participant self-concept and adaptive behavior, this study is the first to attempt to determine the mechanisms of change within a physical activity program for individuals with developmental disabilities. While previous studies supported the hypothesis that involvement in Special Olympics promoted positive self-concept and competence in participants by using quasi-experimental pre–post designs or by

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Ontario Special Olympics, Inc., and by a scholarship from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Quebec (Fonds FCAR) to the first author and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to the second author. The authors wish to thank April Sullivan and the anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments and the many families in Ontario Special Olympics for their participation.

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