This study examined interrelationships among athletic identity, sport participation, and psychological adjustment in a sample of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants (N = 1,034) completed measures of athletic identity, life satisfaction, anxiety, depression, and demographic and sport participation variables. Current amount of weekly sport participation was positively related to athletic identity when statistically controlling for age, gender, and pre-SCI amount of weekly sport participation. Being able to practice one’s favorite sport after SCI was associated with higher levels of athletic identity and better psychological adjustment. Team sport participants reported experiencing better psychological adjustment than individual sport participants did. The findings suggest that social factors are important in the link between sport participation and psychological adjustment in people with SCI.
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- Author: Tomasz Tasiemski x
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Tomasz Tasiemski and Britton W. Brewer
Tomasz Tasiemski, Paul Kennedy, Brian P. Gardner, and Rachel A. Blaikley
The aims of this study were to investigate “athletic identity” in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), using the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 7-item version, and to identify reasons for and barriers to sports participation in this population. People with SCI (N = 678), even those competing as athletes, reported lower levels of athletic identity than able-bodied adults and adolescents with physical disabilities. AIMS scores varied according to gender, athlete status, and hours of sports participation per week. No relationship was found between athletic identity and depression, anxiety, or life satisfaction. Exploratory factor analysis did not support the 3-factor structure of the AIMS with this population, although internal consistency was good.
