Motivation of sport participation in elite athletes with physical disabilities in Mainland China

The purpose of this study was to investigate the motivation of sports participation in Chinese elite athletes with physical disabilities. The investigation aimed to determine if sports motivation differed between sex, age, level and years of training, and type of disabilities. 140 Chinese elite athletes with physical disabilities from 14 different delegations participated in this study. Athletes were asked to complete the PMI and TEOSQ Questionnaire, and 115 surveys were returned (82.1% returning rate). The one way ANOVA and t-test from SPSS were used for statistical analysis. Results showed that the important factors that influenced the motivation of sports participation for athletes with disabilities were Skill Development, Fun, Friendship, Achievement, Situation factors, and Energy release, from the most to the least respectively. The Improvement skill (85%) and Fun (82.7%) were the two highest motivation factors for sports participation, and the Situation factors (76.7%) and Energy release (68.7%) were the two lowest motivation factors for participation. The motivation between athletes with congenital and acquired disabilities was significantly different (p<0.05), There was no significant difference between gender and type of disability on sports participation (P>0.05). There were notable differences between the youths and adults on Goal Orientation; the data analysis revealed that the older athletes scored significantly higher than the younger athletes on Ego Orientation (P<0.01). However, there was no significant difference between young and old athletes on Task Orientation. The survey also found that there were no significant differences between age, self-evaluation, injury time (congenital/acquired), and types of disabilities on Task Orientation. The relationship between Goal Orientation and Sports participation had also been analyzed, and the results showed that there was a high correlation between Task Orientation and Skill Development, as well as Task Orientation and Fun. The results of this study met the findings from other studies. In conclusion, the results of this survey indicated that Skill Development and Having Fun were the two major factors motivating individuals with physical disabilities to participate in sports. Therefore, coaches should create more competitive opportunities for athletes to compete with each other, and at the same time, create more fun activities for athletes to enjoy their participations. Copyright © 2007 ACESS, Asian Council of Exercise & Sports Science.