Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) tend to have a sedentary lifestyle, with low physical fitness and an increased risk of chronic diseases. One reason for the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle is the existence of barriers to participation in physical activity (PA). The purpose of this systematic review is to update knowledge about the perceived barriers of PA participation in individuals with ID. Electronic searches were carried out in the PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science databases, from September 2020 to May 2021, and included articles published between January 2016 and May 2021. The terms used were: “mental retardation”, “intellectual disability”, “intellectual disabilities”, “physical activity”, “motor activity”, “barriers”, “obstacles”, “embarrassment” and “constraint”, in combination with the Boolean operators “AND” or “OR”. After the methodological process, five studies were included for analysis. These studies revealed the existence of several perceived barriers to regular PA participation, which were grouped into five main groups: personal (6 topics), family (4 topics), social (13 topics), financial (1 topic) and environmental (1 topic). The knowledge and identification of participation barriers can be of extreme importance both to institutions and professionals aiming to enhance the participation of individuals with ID in regular PA programs.

The present research aims to systematically review the determinants and reasons for swimming dropout. The systematic review was conducted through electronic searches on the Web of Knowledge and PsycInfo databases from 2 February to 29 July 2015, using the keywords dropout, withdrawal, motives, reasons, sport, framework-theories, motivation, swim*, review, attrition and compliance. Fifteen studies were found and six were fully reviewed and its data extracted and analysed. Most studies were undertaken in Canada and in the United States of America (USA), and one study was conducted in Spain. Most participants were female (65.74%), and the main reasons for dropout were ‘conflicts with their trainers’, ‘other things to do’, ‘competence improvements’ failure’, ‘parents, couples or trainers’ pressure’, ‘lack of enjoyment’ and ‘get bored’. This review contributes to the present knowledge on the understanding of dropout in swimming. However, it is necessary to continue researching on this topic, validating measurement instruments and studying the motivational processes related to dropout and persistence.

This study aimed to analyze measurement invariance of the Behavioral Regulation Sports Questionnaire (BRSQ) across gender and four different sports. In addition, we examined nomological validity via basic psychological needs satisfaction. Participants totaled 1,812 Portuguese athletes (1,220 males and 592 females; aged 15–59 years, Mage = 17.72, SD = 5.51) from football (n = 596), basketball (n = 273), swimming (n = 800), and parasport (n = 143). The BRSQ measurement model was invariant across gender and these four sports. The scale confirmed nomological validity in that satisfaction of basic psychological needs positively predicted autonomous forms of motivation and negatively predicted more controlled motivation and amotivation as suggested by self-determination theory. In light of this evidence for BRSQ construct validity, composite reliability, nomological validity, and invariance across gender and four different sports, this scale is a useful tool for coaches of the aforementioned sports in their efforts to evaluate their athletes' motivation.

Both the Dualistic Model of Passion and Self-Determination Theory suggest that the persistence of a behaviour over time derives from the internalisation of the passion or motivation that the individual feels about the activity. However, the integration of these theoretical assumptions may lead to a better understanding of related outcomes, in particular on subjective well-being (SWB). In this context, this study aimed at systematically reviewing the relation between passion, behaviour regulation (i.e., self-determined motivation), and SWB in sport. The PRISMA 2020 protocol was used to guide the systematic review. Electronic searches were conducted in the Web of Science database and Pubmed. The following descriptors were used: SWB; passion; motivation; behavioural regulation; and sport. After the search, 12 studies were retrieved for analysis that show us the following results tendencies: harmonious passion (HP) and autonomous motivation (AM) (i.e., more self-determined forms of behaviour regulation) are positively related to SWB (i.e., life satisfaction and positive affect), while obsessive passion (OP) and controlled motivation (CM) (i.e., less self-determined forms of behaviour regulation) are negatively associated with SWB. However, no studies were found to simultaneously analyse the three theoretical constructs. These results show us the importance of developing conditions in sport contexts that promote positive feelings that take into account athletes’ development of harmonious passion and self-determined behaviour regulation, in order to achieve higher levels of well-being. Nevertheless, these results also lead us to the necessity for more studies to highlight the theoretical link between passion and motivation in the context of sport, especially regarding the mediating role of motivation in the relationship between passion and well-being.

Article: Reasons for dropout in swimmers, differences between gender and age and intentions to return to competition - The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2018 January-February;58(1-2):180-92 - Minerva Medica - Journals

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the original version of the Passion Scale (14 items, two factors). We tested it within a sample of mixed gender Portuguese athletes from different sports, including adapted sports. In addition to demonstrating reliability, validity, and confirmatory factor analyses of the Passion Scale, we sought to analyze the invariance of this measure between males and females and across six types of sports (soccer, futsal, swimming, surf, bodyboard, and adapted sports). We recruited 1,316 athletes to test this scale from both genders (1,109 males; 207 females), aged 14–59 years (M = 21.83; SD = 8.67). Our main results revealed weaknesses in the factor model for the original instrument (14 items and two factors) leading us to reject the model. However, after adapting the model (to eight items and two factors), the psychometric properties of the Passion Scale improved substantially and then exhibited (a) good fit to the data and (b) invariance between gender and across sports. Our new proposed version of the Passion Scale can be used with confidence to analyze the passion athletes feel when practicing their sport.