Female Athletes With Disabilities in Sport

LAY SUMMARY Female Veterans and female athletes with disabilities express concerns with mobility devices that are male-centric and do not address their unique needs. It is important that the needs of women are given the same attention as those of men. The following study asked groups of women who use wheelchairs or scooters, including Veterans and athletes, about their experiences. Twenty-four women, recruited from two sporting events for Veterans with disabilities, were asked to fill out a survey and participate in a focus group where they would discuss their views on mobility aids and related services. There were four major themes women often mentioned when they talked about using their mobility aids: usability (how they like using it), service delivery (how they get help with it), well-being (how they feel), and design (how it looks and works). Participants were concerned about the ability to adjust their device to their needs, how people obtained a device, and how they felt about using the device. Female wheelchair and scooter users recommended several changes to mobility aids that would improve the devices and improve the lives of women who use them.

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Personality and Mood in Women’s Paralympic Basketball Champions

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.5.3.197 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 197-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Jeffrey J. Martin ◽

Laurie A. Malone ◽

James C. Hilyer

Keyword(s):

Female Athletes ◽

Mood State ◽

Gold Medal ◽

Effect Sizes ◽

Personality Factor ◽

Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire ◽

Sixteen Personality Factor ◽

Athletes With Disabilities ◽

Personality Factor Questionnaire

Research on elite female athletes with disabilities is extremely rare. Therefore, using the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (Cattell, Cattell, & Cattell, 1993) and Profile of Mood States (Droppleman, Lorr, & McNair, 1992), we examined differences between the top 12 athletes comprising the gold medal winning 2004 USA women’s Paralympic basketball team and 13 athletes attending the selection camp who did not make the team. Multivariate analysis of variance with follow-up tests revealed that athletes who made the Paralympic team scored higher on tough-mindedness (M = 5.7 vs. 4.3) and lower in anxiety (M = 5.6 vs. 7.8). For mood state, the Paralympians scored higher in vigor (M = 19.5 vs. 14.8) and lower in depressed mood (M = 3.9 vs. 6.7) and confusion (M = 5.5 vs. 7.5). The effect sizes were large (e.g., Cohen’s d = 0.91 - 1.69) for all five results.

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Preoccupied with Able-Bodiedness? An Analysis of the British Media Coverage of the 2000 Paralympic Games

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly ◽

10.1123/apaq.20.2.166 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 166-181 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Nigel Thomas ◽

Andrew Smith

Keyword(s):

Media Coverage ◽

Female Athletes ◽

Newspaper Coverage ◽

Olympic Athletes ◽

Perceptions Of Disability ◽

Athletes With Disabilities ◽

Paralympic Games

This study analyzed British newspaper coverage of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. Sixty-two articles from 4 British newspapers were examined for the terminology used to describe athletes’ disabilities and the language and images used to portray athletes’ performances. The results suggest a tendency to convey the achievements of Paralympic athletes using medicalized descriptions of disability and to compare them to athletes without disabilities. Photographic coverage tended to hide the athletes’ impairments, and female athletes were less likely to be photographed in active poses. Although coverage emphasized the sporting achievement of athletes with disabilities by comparing them to Olympic athletes and by deemphasizing disability, it may have inadvertently reinforced stereotypical perceptions of disability and reaffirmed a preoccupation with able-bodiedness.

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Energy availability in female athletes with disabilities: a narrative review

Cadernos de Educação Tecnologia e Sociedade ◽

10.14571/brajets.v11.n1.195-203 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 195

Author(s):

Claudia Ridel Juzwiak ◽

Daniel Paduan Joaquim ◽

Ciro Winckler

Keyword(s):

Bone Health ◽

Female Athletes ◽

Narrative Review ◽

Screening Methods ◽

Special Focus ◽

Energy Availability ◽

Menstrual Dysfunction ◽

Athletes With Disabilities ◽

And Performance ◽

The Impact

Research on female athletes has increased, with the main focus on Low Energy Availability (LEA) and Female Athlete Triad (TRIAD), however there is a gap in knowledge about LEA and related conditions such as eating disorder, menstrual dysfunction and bone health in athletes with disabilities. The literature suggests that those athletes, depending on the type of disability, have a higher risk of developing LEA. In this way, the objective of this review is to describe the impact of LEA on health and performance of female athletes, with special focus on athletes with disabilities. A narrative review of the literature was conducted using as search terms LEA and TRIAD components - bone health and menstrual dysfunction - in female athletes. The narrative review yielded 24 studies on the subject, of those, 10 original studies, in which LEA was diagnosed in female athletes, only one referring to athletes with disabilities. Literature indicates the complexity in estimating EA, since the methods used to determine its components may present inaccuracies, especially for athletes with disabilities. Further researched is needed to assess EA in female athletes, especially with disabilities, as well as the improvement of EA's assessment and screening methods.

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