Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Feb 13;5(1):12.
doi: 10.3390/jfmk5010012.

Perceived Well-Being and Quality of Life in People with Typical and Atypical Development: The Role of Sports Practice

Massimo Ingrassia  1 , Francesco Mazza  1 , Piera Totaro  1 , Loredana Benedetto  1
Affiliations

Perceived Well-Being and Quality of Life in People with Typical and Atypical Development: The Role of Sports Practice

Massimo Ingrassia et al. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. .

Abstract

Sports and physical activity are recognized as a source of psycho-physical well-being. Therefore, practicing sports can improve the perception of the quality of life (QoL). The study investigated in adults with atypical development (AD) and typical development (TD) if the perceptions of well-being and QoL may depend on the frequency of practicing sports. Participants were 51 AD (age M = 32.98, SD = 7.81; 45.1% female) and 270 TD adults (age M = 26.50, SD = 6.52; 79.3% female) subsequently divided into three groups: 1) people not practicing sports, or 2) practicing it occasionally, or 3) practicing it regularly. We adopted general self-efficacy, life satisfaction, positive well-being, and psychological distress related to physical exercise as measures of well-being, WHOQOL-BREF as QoL, and I-TIPI-R as indicators of Big Five personality factors. Questionnaires were completed online. Practicing sports influenced the perception of well-being and QoL. For the AD group, sporting practice seems to have assumed an equalization effect, eliminating the statistical differences between well-being and QoL measures of AD and TD groups. Associations emerged between Big Five and well-being and QoL indices with some differences as a function of group characteristics. In summary, results suggest that practicing sports is strongly associated with improvements in perceptions of well-being and QoL, especially in disabled persons.

Keywords: disability; general self-efficacy; perceived well-being; quality of life; satisfaction with life; sports practicing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Bize R., Johnson J.A., Plotnikoff R.C. Physical activity level and health-related quality of life in the general adult population: A systematic review. Prev. Med. 2007;45:401–415. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.07.017. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Eime R.M., Charity J.M., Harvey J.T., Payne W.R. Participation in sport and physical activity: Associations with socio-economic status and geographical remoteness. BMC Public Health. 2015:1–12. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1796-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Viccaro G. Qualità della Vita e Sport per Tutti (Quality of Life and Sport for All People) Edizioni ETS; Pisa, Italy: 2004. p. 41.
    1. WHOQOL Group Development of the WHOQOL: Rationale and current status. Int. J. Mental Health. 1994;23:24–56. doi: 10.1080/00207411.1994.11449286. - DOI
    1. Skevington S.M., Sartorius N., Amir M., The WHOQOL-Group Developing methods for assessing quality of life in different cultural settings. The history of the WHOQOL instruments. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2004;39:1–8. doi: 10.1007/s00127-004-0700-5. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources