EXPLORING MOTIVATION FOR SPORTS PARTICIPATION AMONG THE DISABLED BY SOME OF THEIR DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS.

The present study attempted to explore the motivation for sports participation among the disabled by some of their demographic characteristics. The sample consisted of 277 (135 females, 142 males) orthopedically (n = 105), hearing (n = 98), and visually (n = 74) disabled individuals. The data were collected using a demographic information form and the Sports Participation Motivation Questionnaire - Disabled (SPMQ-D), developed by Tekkurşun Demir et al. (2018). The data were compared between the groups through independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Moreover, the significant differences resulting from ANOVA were subjected to the Scheffe test to reveal the source(s) of differences between the groups. The findings revealed that the participants with an orthopedic disability got significantly higher scores on the SPMQ-D and the extrinsic motivation and amotivation subscales than the visually impaired participants. Besides, the orthopedically disabled males had significantly greater amotivation for sports participation than their female counterparts, while the external motivation scores of the hearing disabled females were significantly higher than those of the males in the same disability group. Nevertheless, there were no significant differences between the participants on their scores on the SPMQ-D and its subscales by onset of disability. On the other hand, the participants - regardless of the type of disability - interested in individual sports and engaging in regular exercises had greater motivation for sports participation than those interested in team sports and not doing regular exercises. Finally, the disabled participants with 3 and 4+ siblings were also found to have higher motivation for sports participation than those with 1 sibling, 2 siblings, and no siblings. Overall, it can confidently be claimed that orthopedically, hearing, and visually disabled individuals differ in their motivation for sports participation by type of disability, gender, sports branch of interest, regular exercise status, and number of siblings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]