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Purpose: To find modifiable factors that are related to subjective well-being would be valuable for improving interventions in fibromyalgia. Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and physical fitness may represent potential areas to optimize treatment regimens. In fibromyalgia, there is a discordance between clinical observations and patient-reported outcomes (objective and subjective assessments). Therefore, the present study aims at analyzing the associations of objective and subjective evaluations of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and physical fitness with subjective well-being and determine if and how objective and subjective associations differ.

Methods: In this population-based cross-sectional study participated 375 women with fibromyalgia from the al-Ándalus project (Spain). Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and physical fitness were objectively (accelerometers and performance testing) and subjectively (questionnaires) measured. Participants self-reported their levels of positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction.

Results: In the most conservative multivariate analysis, we found independent associations of the objective measures of physical activity with positive affect and life satisfaction and sedentary behaviour with positive affect. No such relationship was seen with subjective measures of the same behaviours. Moreover, we observed that objective and subjective physical fitness evaluations were independent of each other related to subjective well-being.

Conclusions: Independent associations of the objective measures (but not the subjective assessments) of physical activity with positive affect and life satisfaction, and of sedentary behaviour with positive affect were observed. However, objective measures and subjective appraisals of physical fitness appear to be independently related to well-being, which should be considered when developing physical exercise interventions for fibromyalgia.

Background: There are multiple factors that make it difficult for learners with a mobility impairment to participate in sport, if not impossible. Unfortunately, it is not known which of these factors can be considered as the most important ones.

Objectives: The main objective was to obtain clarity on the factors that differentiate best between learners who participate in sport and those learners who are not participating.

Method: In total, 140 boys and girls with different types of mobility impairments participated. Information was obtained on inevitable factors such as age and gender, structure factors such as type of school and hostel dwelling and personal factors such as emotions and relationships with parents and peers.

Results: Four factors emerged that explained 22% of the variance in the distinctive characteristics of the group that participates in sport and the non-participating group. Age was the most important variable explaining 9% of the variance followed by trust (an emotional variable), gender and health.

Conclusion: Children with a mobility impairment should be encouraged to start participating in sport at an early age. Specific attention should be given to girls who are more reluctant to participate. Health is a factor that can inhibit sports participation; however, it should not be overemphasised. The emphasis should rather be on the development of trust, which will help adolescents with an impairment to take responsible risks in an adaptive sports environment.

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

Purpose: This qualitative study aimed to compare the experiences of two groups of female athletes - those with and without visual disability- who participate in sports.

Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 athletes and thematic analysis of the data was done.

Results: Both groups identified various benefits of engaging in sports, including increased fitness and higher self-esteem. Para-athletes felt that sports provided them with opportunities to break stereotypes associated with disability. Both groups also identified certain barriers impeding sports participation, the most pervasive of these being poor infrastructure.  In terms of differences, athletes without disability were initiated into sports at a much earlier age, had enjoyed more freedom in choosing their sport, and were given more family support than the para-athletes.

Conclusion: An analysis of the findings in terms of the Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002) indicated that needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness were being more wholly met through sports-related experiences for athletes without disability than for the para-athletes.

Implications: Current conditions within para-sport need to be improved by providing more sporting choices to athletes with disability, easier access to sports opportunities at an earlier age, development of self-efficacy with regard to sports, challenging of stereotypes, and generating awareness among parents that sports can be a viable and safe option for their daughters.

Inclusion is positioned at the forefront of global educational reform. The study reported focused on a national Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for Inclusive Physical Education (IPE) in England. The research was designed to critically explore how CPD providers (i.e. tutors) variously conceptualised and practiced inclusion in the context of running a day-long CPD course for physical education teachers. Using qualitative methodology, data were collected via course observations (n= 27), informal interviews with tutors (n = 10), and a tutor questionnaire (n = 18). Findings suggest that although tutors’theoretical interpretations of inclusion were largely consistent with contemporary, broad understandings, there was notable variability and inherent tensions in the ways they talked about and enacted inclusion in practice. In many instances, inclusion was infused with particular perceptions about ability and ability grouping. Only a small number of tutors encouraged teachers to question and ‘disturb’ their current practices. Findings from this research extend insights into the contested nature of inclusion in contemporary PE and highlight the need for research to engage with multiple stakeholders in physical education teaching and CPD. This research reflects that CPD providers have a key role to play in extending teachers’ understandings of inclusive pedagogy

Purpose: The study aims to explore factors that influence (facilitate or impede) direct support professionals supporting people with intellectual disabilities in engaging in physical activity. Influencing factors will be synthesized into a conceptual model to set the stage for developing future interventions and policies to change direct support professional behavior.

Method: Based on the Theoretical Domains Framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 direct support professionals of people with mild to profound intellectual disabilities. Influencing factors were analyzed using both inductive and deductive coding strategies. The theoretical sources of behavior (i.e., capability, opportunity, and motivation) were leading components in the development of a conceptual model.

Results: Five influential factors facilitating or impeding physical-activity support were isolated that related to direct support professionals’ capability, eight to the opportunities afforded them, and 11 to their motivation. Another six inductively emerged, which related to the characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities and which then influenced the capability, opportunity, or motivation to engage in physical-activity support by direct support professionals.

Conclusions: Although experiences differed, the conceptual model developed here provides theoretically based targets for a comprehensive approach to changing direct support professional behavior and thus promoting the support of physical activity in people with intellectual disabilities.

Purpose: The study aimed to assess the effect of an Aerobic Fitness Programme intervention on children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities in Jammu, India.

Method: In a pre-test post-test control group design, 66 children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities, who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were placed in control and experimental groups. A validated tool, the Test of Motor Proficiency, was used as a pre-test and post-test measure to assess the effect of the intervention.

Results: The mean difference between the two groups of children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities was significant. ANCOVA analysis indicated F (1,28) = 312.13, P =.00 in children with mild intellectual disabilities, and F (1,32) = 22.540, P =.00 in children with moderate intellectual disabilities. The intervention was effective in developing visual motor control, upper limb speed and dexterity, running speed and agility, balance, strength, and upper limb coordination. It was ineffective in improving bilateral coordination in both groups of children with intellectual disabilities. 

Conclusion: This intervention programme can be introduced into the daily curriculum of children with intellectual disabilities at special schools. It would be helpful in compensating for the lack of physical activity due to classroom-based teaching.

Alejandro González Iñárritu is a salient example of contemporary Latin American directors who portray sick or disabled bodies as a visual and affective shorthand for different forms of violence. This article explores the relationship between his signature intersecting plots that join seemingly disconnected social spheres in a shared precariousness and his portrayal of illness, injury, and disability to suggest the violence and inequality that underpin these connections. I argue that González Iñárritu’s films frequently represent injured and disabled bodies to expose invisible connections that make social injustice possible as evidence of his using film as a political or ethical intervention that might erode the way contemporary global capitalism reproduces coloniality in everyday life. At the same time, his films illustrate the pitfalls of utilizing disabled bodies to realize this critique, thus shedding light on the ethical dimensions of this tendency to link disability with a critique of violence.

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2019, Vol. 6 No. 1

Background: The optimal management strategy for multiple sclerosis (MS), and many other chronic diseases, likely involves health behavior modification. Multimodal behavioral interventions may be most effective, but little is known about long-term adherence in people with MS.

Methods: This qualitative study assessed barriers and enablers to long-term adherence by people with MS who self-selected for a 5-day health behavior intervention 3–5 years prior. Thirteen women and five men participated in semi-structured phone interviews, which were transcribed and thematically analyzed.

Results: The experience was described as useful for information gathering, decision making, and practical strategies regarding health behaviors. The majority still followed supplementation and dietary recommendations most of the time, although consuming non-recommended food while eating out was common. Support at home, ability and enjoyment in food preparation, and ability to resist unhealthy foods were both barriers and enablers. Adherence to “time-consuming” exercise and meditation recommendations were less common and episodic. Many reported competing interests on time from work and family; and barriers including injuries and symptoms, weather, financial or geographical barriers, and lack of person-centred support and motivation. Increased fitness and mobility, weight loss, and a sense of accomplishment and control were advantages and motivators. Practical and attitudinal strategies employed included planning, tailoring activities to ability and preference, and self-monitoring.

Conclusion: While most people attempted to engage with all components of the intervention initially, only some still engaged with all components, and none to the recommended levels. These data can inform future quantitative studies and health behavior interventions.

Background: Students with disability show an increasing incidence of school failure. Quality teaching and appropriate support may foster high self-efficacy, a predictive factor for successful school outcomes. Physical Education (PE) can provide students with a context in which self-efficacy and participation are promoted leading to improved academic achievement. The transition into secondary school can be challenging for many students with increased educational demands, developmental changes and individual social identification coinciding. A disability may add to the challenge of success.

Methods: Three groups of students, aged 13 years and enrolled in Swedish mainstream schools were targeted (n=439). Groups included students with 1. A diagnosed disability, 2. Low grades in PE (D–F) and 3. High grades (A–C) in PE. Questionnaires were collected and analyzed from 30/ 439 students with a diagnosed disability (physical, neuro-developmental and intellectual) from 26 classes, their classmates and their PE-teachers (n=25). Relationships between student self-reports and PE-teachers’ self-ratings were investigated. Also examined was the potential to which students’ functional skills could predict elevated general school self- efficacy, PE specific self-efficacy and aptitude to participate in PE. Results were compared with the total sample and between the three target groups (n = 121).

Results: For students with disabilities, better self-rated teaching skills were related to lower student perceived general school self-efficacy, PE specific self-efficacy and aptitude to participate in PE. The impact of classroom climate in PE was more obvious among students with disabilities. Perceived functional skills were associated with elevated general school self-efficacy, PE specific self-efficacy and aptitude to participate in PE. Better socio-cognitive functional skills had an overall positive effect on all outcomes. Students with disabilities reported results similar to the total sample, the D–F group scored lower and the A–C group higher than the total sample and the disability group. Elevated self-efficacy in PE is six times less probable in students with disabilities, compared to the A–C group.

Conclusions: Our findings that better teacher planning and grading skills, are detrimental to students disadvantaged by disability is contradictive. Improving the establishment and communication of adapted learning standards at the transition to secondary school is a crucial and a predictive factor for promoting positive school experiences for students with disability. Students with disabilities need to be assured that the intended learning outcomes can be reached by doing activities differently than their typically functioning peers. Consideration of class composition is suggested as a means of promoting a positive learning climate, which would particularly benefit students with disabilities. Allocation of resources to support student socio-cognitive skills would improve experiences for the D–F group and likely promote a positive learning environment.