Disability sports organizations could benefit from a better understanding of the factors leading individuals with disabilities to participate in sport. This study explored relationships among four sources of motivation (i.e., escape, self-esteem enhancement, self-improvement, and social interaction) and six forms of social support (i.e., emotional challenge, emotional support, listening support, reality confirmation, task appreciation, and task challenge) among 133 male and 60 female wheelchair athletes, ages 13–34 years. Differences in motivation and social support needs were examined according to athletes’ gender, age, playing level, skill level, years of participation, and future playing intentions. Results indicated that males were more motivated than females were by desire for escape and that long-term participants were more motivated than novices were by self-esteem enhancement. Escape, self-improvement, and social interaction were stronger motivators for high school athletes than for collegiate athletes. Importance of social support types differed according to skill level, playing level, years played, and future playing intentions.
Search Results
Motives for Participation and Importance of Social Support for Athletes With Physical Disabilities
Scott R. Swanson, Tom Colwell, and Yushan Zhao
Influences of Social Support, Perceived Barriers, and Negative Meanings of Physical Activity on Physical Activity in Middle School Students
Ya-Wen Hsu, Chih-Ping Chou, Selena T. Nguyen-Rodriguez, Arianna D. McClain, Britni R. Belcher, and Donna Spruijt-Metz
Background:
A profound decline in physical activity occurs in puberty. This phenomenon is not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine associations between family/friend social support for physical activity, negative meanings of physical activity (NMPA), and internal /external barriers to physical activity with moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and sedentary and light behavior (SLB) in youth.
Methods:
A total of 350 participants from 7 Los Angeles County middle schools participated in the study (62% Latina, 79% females). Hypothesized pathways were examined using structural equation modeling. Psychosocial variables and participation in MVPA and SLB were assessed by self-reported questionnaires.
Results:
NMPA were related to lower levels of family/friend social support and greater internal/external barriers. Family social support was the only significant indicator of MVPA (β = 0.79). Low family social support was related to higher SLB (β = −0.25).
Conclusions:
Family social support seems crucial to promote MVPA and reduce SLB in adolescents and might be influenced by child’s feelings about physical activity. Future research should consider the interrelationship between psychosocial correlates of physical activity.
Coping, Social Support, and injury: Changes Over Time and the Effects of Level of Sports involvement
Lynne H. Johnston and Douglas Carroll
Objectives:
To examine the coping strategies used after injury and the provision of and satisfaction with social support as functions of sport involvement and stage of rehabilitation.
Design/Patiesits:
Complete data were available at 3 points (beginning, middle, and end of formal rehabilitation) for 93 patients, all of whom had sustained injury restricting normal functioning for at least 21 days.
Results/Conclusions:
Coping varied as a function of stage in rehabilitation, with patients deploying all strategies more at the beginning of rehabilitation. There was little variation in coping and social support, although those more involved in sport adopted a support-seeking coping strategy to a greater extent. Irrespective of sports-involvement status, women were more satisfied with practical and emotional support. Those who were more involved in sport were judged by their physiotherapists to be better adherents. Adoption of an emotional discharge coping strategy was negatively associated with adherence throughout rehabilitation.
The Development of Social Relationships, Social Support, and Posttraumatic Growth in a Dragon Boating Team for Breast Cancer Survivors
Meghan H. McDonough, Catherine M. Sabiston, and Sarah Ullrich-French
Physical activity experiences may contribute to psychological and social wellbeing among breast cancer survivors. The main purpose of the current study was to qualitatively explore the development of social relationships, social support, and posttraumatic growth among breast cancer survivors participating in a dragon boat program over 19 months. Guided by interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009), semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 breast cancer survivors on five occasions over their first two seasons of dragon boating. Narrative accounts were developed for each participant, and four profiles emerged describing processes of social and posttraumatic growth development over time: “developing a feisty spirit of survivorship,” “I don’t want it to be just about me,” “it’s not about the pink it’s about the paddling,” and “hard to get close.” Profiles were discussed in terms of developing social relationships and support, providing support to others, physicality and athleticism, and negative interactions and experiences.
The Development of the Physical Activity and Social Support Scale
Natalie M. Golaszewski and John B. Bartholomew
( HealthyPeople 2020, 2014 ). As a result, there has been an extensive history of research into social-psychological processes that might be related to physical activity. One of the more researched areas is social support ( Courneya, Plotnikoff, Hotz, & Birkett, 2000 ; Sallis, Hovell, Hofstetter, & Barrington
Comparing National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Athletes’ Perceptions of Social Support Following Injury, Illness, and Other Identified Stressors
Martha J. Anderson, Yvette Ingram, Linda Meyer, Thomas West, and Ellen West
Social support is one way to improve one’s mental health ( Covassin et al., 2014 ). College athletes are more vulnerable to increased stress than nonathletes due to failing to identify social support networks and other resources that may help decrease their stress and reactions to those stressors
The Effects of Social Support on Athlete Burnout and Well-Being in Female Collegiate Athletes
Haleigh Gray, Ryan N. Moran, Elizabeth Elder, Amanda Wilkerson, Elizabeth Chaney, Ginger Gilmore-Childress, and Jessica Wallace
consistently won national titles. When experiencing various stressors in life, females tend to rely on social support to cope therefore a lack of support can be a determining factor in whether or not athlete burnout develops. 8 Social support is defined as any form of assistance offered from one person to a
Impact of Sport Engagement and Social Support on the Health-Related Quality of Life of Youth Athletes With Physical Disabilities
Myung Ha Sur, Deborah R. Shapiro, and Jeffrey Martin
factors, such as support from parents, peers, or coaches who provide positive feedback and encouragement of one’s capabilities can also facilitate HRQOL. Affirming social support that accompanies positive cognitive evaluations, such as sport engagement, can promote increased HRQOL ( Bandura, 1998
Perceived Social Support, Reinjury Anxiety, and Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport in Soccer Players
Dale Forsdyke, Daniel Madigan, Adam Gledhill, and Andy Smith
physically and psychologically ready to do so. 3 However, in comparison with the physical factors predicting optimal return to sport, psychological factors are less well understood. 4 In this regard, both theory and research suggest a prominent role for social support. 4 , 5 Therefore, the purpose of the
Social Support and Body Image in Group Physical Activity Programs for Older Women
Michelle Patterson, Meghan H. McDonough, Jennifer Hewson, S. Nicole Culos-Reed, and Erica Bennett
in group physical activity can provide physical health benefits (e.g., improved body functionality) while simultaneously providing opportunities to build relationships and access social support, both of which can impact body perceptions ( Bergland et al., 2018 ; Grogan, 2017 ; Tylka, 2012
