Sport Participation for Elite Athletes With Physical Disabilities: Motivations, Barriers, and Facilitators

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella McLoughlin ◽  
Courtney Weisman Fecske ◽  
Yvette Castaneda ◽  
Candace Gwin ◽  
Kim Graber

There are many reasons why individuals are motivated to participate in sports. Less attention, however, is given for studying motivation and athlete development in adapted sport. The purpose of this study was to identify the motivations, facilitators, and barriers to sports participation of elite athletes with a physical disability. Participants (N = 23, 17 males, six females, mean age: 24.3 years) were recruited through online listservs, e-mails, and snowball sampling. A semistructured interview guide was employed. Analysis was conducted and grounded in self-determination theory and literature surrounding barriers and facilitators of sports participation. Through coding by multiple researchers, six themes emerged. Themes indicated that athletes attributed participation to constructs of self-determination theory as well as overcoming specific barriers such as cost, time constraints, and lack of opportunity. Among facilitators to their athletic development, there were empowerment and advocacy, increased health, college scholarships, and achieving performance-related goals.

Author(s):  
Meredith M Wekesser ◽  
Brandonn S Harris ◽  
Jody Langdon ◽  
Charles H Wilson

About 70% of youth athletes drop out of sport by age 13. Self-determination theory has been utilised to investigate athletes’ motivations for behaviours including sport persistence (i.e. continuation) and suggests that the coach can be an influence on such motivations. Basic need fulfillment via interpersonal coaching behaviours, the coach-athlete relationship (CAR), and intentions to continue sport participation have been examined independently and in various combinations and directions, but these variables have not been examined collectively in this manner. The purpose of this study was to determine if CAR quality mediates the relationship between interpersonal coaching behaviours and intentions to continue sport participation. Surveys were administered to 148 athletes ages 11 to 16 from organised sports teams. No significant indirect effects of mediation could be established. However, there was a significant and direct effect of competence-supportive behaviours on intentions ( β = .341, p < .001). Overall, the total effects model was significant ( F(1,146) = 18.762, p < .001, adjusted R2 = .114). Significant positive relationships were shown among supportive coach behaviours and CAR quality in addition to CAR quality and intentions. Negative relationships were demonstrated among thwarting coach behaviours and CAR quality. Results support that coaches’ competence-supportive behaviours can positively impact CAR quality and intentions to continue sport participation in youth athletes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystn Orr ◽  
Katherine A. Tamminen ◽  
Shane N. Sweet ◽  
Jennifer R. Tomasone ◽  
Kelly P. Arbour-Nicitopoulos

This study was guided by self-determination theory to explore the sport experiences of youth with a physical disability and the role of peers within this context. Interviews were conducted with eight youths using a relational mapping technique and analyzed using a deductive thematic approach. Sport peers were broadly defined by the youth as individuals from a large age range and of all abilities. Youth perceived their sport peers to have dynamic roles throughout their participation in sport. The perceived roles of these sport peers included supporting and thwarting basic psychological needs, and influencing the youths’ processing of sport internalization. Findings focus on the complexity of peer need-thwarting and need-supporting interactions in sport for youth with physical disabilities. Overall, peers have a multifaceted role in the sport experiences of youth identifying with a physical disability and may, in some cases, thwart youths’ basic psychological needs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn D Ritholz ◽  
Elizabeth A Beverly ◽  
Kelly M Brooks ◽  
Martin J Abrahamson ◽  
Katie Weinger

Objective Diabetes self-care is challenging and requires effective patient–provider communication to achieve optimal treatment outcomes. This study explored perceptions of barriers and facilitators to diabetes self-care communication during medical appointments. Design Qualitative study using in-depth interviews with a semistructured interview guide. Participants Thirty-four patients with type 2 diabetes and 19 physicians who treat type 2 diabetes. Results Physicians described some patients as reluctant to discuss their self-care behaviors primarily because of fear of being judged, guilt, and shame. Similarly, patients described reluctant communication resulting from fear of being judged and shame, particularly shame surrounding food intake and weight. Physicians and patients recommended trust, nonjudgmental acceptance, open/honest communication, and providing patients hope for living with diabetes as important factors for improving self-care communication. Further, patients stressed the clinical benefits of physicians directly addressing poor self-care behaviors while physicians described having few strategies to address these difficulties. Conclusions Physician–patient self-care communication barriers included patients’ reluctance to discuss self-care behaviors and physicians’ perceptions of few options to address this reluctance. Treatment recommendations stressed the importance of establishing trusting, nonjudgmental and open patient–provider communication for optimal diabetes treatment. Medical education is needed to improve physicians’ strategies for addressing self-care communication during medical appointments.


Inclusion ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Faith Casey ◽  
Xu Wang ◽  
Jacques Boucher

Abstract Self-determination theory (SDT) may offer insight into the motives behind sport participation by individuals with Down syndrome (DS). The Pictorial Motivation Scale (PMS), developed by Poulin (1992), evaluated the motivation of junior athletes with (n = 15) and without DS (n = 15) participating in inclusive community-based swimming. In line with SDT, cluster analyses showed that intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation were all present in athletes with and without disabilities. Swimmers with DS scored significantly higher in intrinsic motivation than non–self-determined extrinsic motivation (−0.45, p &lt; 0.001) and amotivation (−1.28, p &lt; 0.001), suggesting involvement in community-based inclusive sport may promote enhanced psychological functioning in this sample. Further research may be warranted into the motivation of athletes with DS across longer periods of time.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 677-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomás García Calvo ◽  
Eduardo Cervelló ◽  
Ruth Jiménez ◽  
Damián Iglesias ◽  
Juan Antonio Moreno Murcia

Motivational characteristics are influential in shaping adolescents' desire to persist in sport or to discontinue their sport participation. Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) was utilized as the theoretical framework for this study. This theory examines whether sustained participatory involvement, defined as continued participation in the sport through the next year, was influenced by individuals' self-determined motivation and by the fulfillment of the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Four hundred ninety two soccer players between the ages of 13 and 17 years comprised the sample. Results indicated sport dropout was explained by higher levels of amotivation, external regulation, and introjected regulation and by lower satisfaction of relatedness and autonomy needs. The findings of this study contribute to the knowledge base on sport dropout as they supported many of self-determination theory.


2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford J. Mallett

The coach is central to the development of expertise in sport (Bloom, 1985) and is subsequently key to facilitating adaptive forms of motivation to enhance the quality of sport performance (Mallett & Hanrahan, 2004). In designing optimal training environments that are sensitive to the underlying motives of athletes, the coach requires an in-depth understanding of motivation. This paper reports on the application of self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000) to coaching elite athletes. Specifically, the application of SDT to designing an autonomy-supportive motivational climate is outlined, which was used in preparing Australia’s two men’s relay teams for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.


Author(s):  
David Sánchez-Oliva ◽  
Athanasios Mouratidis ◽  
Francisco M. Leo ◽  
José L. Chamorro ◽  
Juan J. Pulido ◽  
...  

Using self-determination theory as a framework, we aimed to study the relationships between perceived need support and need satisfaction with self-determined motivation and extracurricular physical activity intentions in the physical education (PE) classroom, including sex and out-of-school sport participation as moderators. Additionally, we aimed to test whether a need-supportive classroom environment in PE moderates these associations. Participants were 1259 students (556 males) aged between 12 to 16 years (Mage = 13.46 years; SD = 0.74) from 77 PE classes. At the student level we found (a) need satisfaction to predict positively autonomous motivation and negatively amotivation, and (b) autonomous motivation to predict positively and amotivation to predict negatively intentions to undertake extracurricular physical activities. At the classroom level, in need-supportive classes males benefit more than females in terms of increased autonomous motivation while females benefit more than males in terms of decreased amotivation. Finally, class-level perceived need support moderated (i.e., attenuated) the negative association between need satisfaction and amotivation and between amotivation and intentions. These results suggest a buffering role that a need-supportive classroom environment may have on students’ motivation and behavior.


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