Self esteem and participation in the Special Olympics

Aim:
The purpose of this study was to examine the psychosocial impact of involvement in the Special Olympics.

Method:
A cross sectional design was employed comparing two groups, sports active through the Special Olympics (SO) and non-sport active participants with intellectual disabilities. One hundred participants completed validated measures of self-esteem, quality of life, stress levels and social networks. Qualitative data was also collected from SO participants about what they perceived as the benefits of involvement in sports.

Results:
Analysis revealed that higher levels of self-esteem, quality of life, social networks and lower stress levels were significantly associated with involvement in the Special Olympics. A logistic regression analysis showed self-esteem to be a good predictor of group membership, those in the Special Olympics having higher self-esteem. Qualitative responses from the SO group confirmed the social support provided by SO involvement was perceived as an additional benefit to the actual sports activity.

Conclusion:
The findings provide further evidence of a positive association between sport involvement and increased psychological wellbeing for people with intellectual disabilities, and suggest such involvement may be particularly valuable for those potentially vulnerable to low self-esteem.