Quality of Life: Changes in Self-Perception in People with down Syndrome as a Result of Being Part of a Football/Soccer Team. Self-Reports and External Reports

Abstract

The hypothesis posed was whether being part of a football/soccer team influenced the quality of life (QL) of the people who participated in it since their perception of themselves is enhanced by factors, such as self-determination, social inclusion, emotional well-being, physical well-being, material well-being, rights, personal development, and internal relationships. The objective was to evaluate the QL of people with Down Syndrome (DS) using their self-perception (n = 39) and the perception of the informants (family members, teachers) (n = 39). The KidsLife-Down Scale, with a few modifications, was used. In general, differences of opinion between the subgroups of participants with DS and informants showed that results were higher in terms of perception for participants in the DS subgroup. Scores for all variables were higher for those participants with DS who said they did engage in practicing competitive football/soccer. Although the perception of informants provides a great deal of information regarding the QL of participants with DS, participants with DS should also be involved in the evaluation process and their self-perceptions taken into account. It is not participating in a football team that causes the conclusions of the study, but training (which includes the friendly matches that are played), the cause correlated with the improvements detected in the athlete’s DS.

The effect of the adapted soccer programme on motor learning and psychosocial behaviour in adolescents with Down syndrome

“…Our main findings were that adolescents with DS, who were part of the exercise group, decreased their levels in all psychosocial variables and increase level in only one of three motoric variables following the 16-week soccer programme. These findings reinforced the idea that adapted sports programmes could improve some indicators of psychomotor and social behaviour in this target population and confirmed the results of previous studies, especially those related to soccer (Özer et al 2012;Baran et al 2013;Camacho et al 2021;Perić and Milićević-Marinković 2021).…”

“…In addition to physical activity in general, some studies have reported positive effects of specific programmes: adapted basketball (Kocić et al 2017), swimming and water activities (Yilmaz et al 2009;Suarez-Villadat et al 2020), table tennis (Chen et al 2015), karate (Perić et al 2018) and finally adapted soccer (Özer et al 2012;Baran et al 2013;Camacho et al 2021;Perić and Milićević-Marinković 2021). The aim of the current study is to determine the effects of adapted soccer programme on the motor learning and different psychosocial characteristics in adolescents with DS.…”

“…2013; Camacho et al . 2021; Perić and Milićević‐Marinković 2021). The aim of the current study is to determine the effects of adapted soccer programme on the motor learning and different psychosocial characteristics in adolescents with DS.…”

“…The article of Camacho et al . (2021) also does not include adolescents but adults. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of life of people with DS using their self‐perception and the perception of the informants (family members and teachers).…”

“…Participants in soccer activities have team tasks and solve them by cooperation and group rules respect. These situations are conducive to the development of positive traits such as emotional control, perseverance, task focus, communication, empathy, self-determination, emotional well-being, that is, to reduction of negative traits such as aggression, intolerance, fear and withdrawal from the problem (Özer et al 2012;Camacho et al 2021).…”