Empower Our Growth as Athletes: Voices of Swedish Athletes With Intellectual Disability
2025 (English)In: JARID: Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities, ISSN 1360-2322, E-ISSN 1468-3148, Vol. 38, no 5, article id e70133Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: People with intellectual disability participate in organised sports to a lesser extent than people in general. The aim of this study was to explore the motivation for engaging in sports among athletes using the theoretical framework of sense of belonging.
Method: Semi-structured online interviews were carried out with athletes (N = 15, 8/7 women/men, 29.5 ± 9 years) with intellectual disabilities.
Results: The main theme 'Empower me to grow as an athlete-adapt the support to help me develop my sport skills and social aspects' showed that motivation, competence, perception, and opportunities were important factors for engaging in sports. Support was an important factor for creating adapted opportunities.
Conclusion: Athletes with intellectual disabilities have motivation, want to feel competent, and to be athletes who belong in sports and develop as such. They also appreciate coaches giving adapted support that enhances understanding and promotes inclusion in the sport community.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2025. Vol. 38, no 5, article id e70133
Keywords [en]
inclusion, motivation, para sports, physical activity, sense of belonging.
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Research subject
Medicine/Technology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:gih:diva-8845DOI: 10.1111/jar.70133ISI: 001585424000001PubMedID: 41025608Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105017612180OAI: oai:DiVA.org:gih-8845DiVA, id: diva2:2007284
Funder
Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports, P2024-0090
Note
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,provided the original work is properly cited.
2025-10-172025-10-172025-11-04