title: Mental health and social participation skills of wheelchair basketball players: a controlled study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess differences in psychological well-being, symptomatic psychological disorders and social participation, between competitive wheelchair basketball participants and those non-participants. Forty-six wheelchair participants, 24 Basketball players (aged 35.60 ± 7.56) and 22 non-players (aged 36.20 ± 6.23), completed three validated self-report questionnaires: Participation Scale (PS), Psychological Well-Being Scale [PWBS] and Symptom Checklist 90 R [SCL-90-R]. ANOVA showed significant overall differences between the two groups. The social restriction score, evaluated by PS, was significantly higher in the non-basketball participants (p=0.00001) than the basketball participants. The PWB Scale showed significant differences in all 6 dimensions: positive relations with others, environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life and self-acceptance (p<0.01), and autonomy (p<0.05), with better scores in the basketball participants. The SCL-90-R scores were significantly lower for the basketball group in the following 6 symptomatic dimensions: depression, phobic anxiety, and sleep disorder (p<0.01), somatization, interpersonal sensitivity and psychoticism (with p<0.05). It was concluded that competitive wheelchair basketball participants showed better psychological well-being and social skills than those non-participants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Health Science, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy. Electronic address: fiorilli@unimol.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fiorilli
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Iuliano
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aquino
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.forename: Arrigo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giombini
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calcagno
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: di Cagno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000674:Amputees / Q000523:psychology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001490:Basketball / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000523:psychology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D058992:Social Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D064846:Sports for Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014910:Wheelchairs / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Disabilities; Mental health; Reverse integration; Socialization; Sport