Long-term effects of athletics meet on the perceived competence of individuals with intellectual disabilities

The purpose was to examine the effects of the type of athletic program (integrated versus segregated) and of the type of sport (basketball versus swimming) on two domains of perceived competence (athletic competence and social acceptance), and general self-worth. Participants were 48 adolescent females with intellectual disabilities (ID) divided equally into six groups: (a) segregated basketball, (b) integrated basketball, (c) segregated swimming, (d) integrated swimming, (e) physical education (PE), and (f) sedentary. The experimental treatment was 21 months long; for sport groups, this involved 2 h of training each week and 12 competitive meets. We administrated Harter's (Harter, S. (1985). Manual for the self-perception profile for children. Denver: University of Denver) Self-Perception Profile for Children seven times to determine changes in perceived competence, and general self-worth. Results indicated: (a) no changes in perceived social acceptance; (b) significantly lower perceived athletic competence for the integrated groups; (c) significantly lower general self-worth for the basketball groups compared to the PE group. The integrated environment helps adolescents with ID to adopt a more realistic evaluation of their physical competence.