Abstract
Portuguese elite athletes with disabilities (n=14) were interviewed to explore the importance assigned to psychological preparation and their personal experiences on sport psychology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using standard qualitative methodology. All the participants highlighted the importance of psychological preparation in sports performance. Moreover, it was evident a gap on applied sport psychology among the athletes. Most of the athletes never had any kind of psychological intervention for sport. Although some participants mentioned barriers to sport psychology intervention (e.g., athlete’s age, perception of psychological skills as innate characteristics, and the opinion of others), most of the athletes expressed receptiveness to engage in psychological skills training and stressed the need for that support. Some recommendations for future sport psychology interventions are presented as well as the study limitations.
Highlights
One of the major challenges in applied sport psychology in relation to disability sport is the development of psychological skills training programs
Missing issues in the study of psychology preparation includes how athletes with disabilities perceive the importance of psychological skills; and another is their receptiveness to sport psychology intervention
This research gap was emphasized by Page, Martin, and Wayda (2001), who studied the attitudes of wheelchair basketball players toward seeking sport psychologists
Summary
One of the major challenges in applied sport psychology in relation to disability sport is the development of psychological skills training programs. Missing issues in the study of psychology preparation includes how athletes with disabilities perceive the importance of psychological skills; and another is their receptiveness to sport psychology intervention. This research gap was emphasized by Page, Martin, and Wayda (2001), who studied the attitudes of wheelchair basketball players toward seeking sport psychologists. Hanrahan (2015) considered that athletes with disabilities appreciate and are receptive to sport psychology services and to psychological skills training programs when they are available, research showed that athletes with disabilities expressed equivocal positions towards sport psychology interventions. In the study of Page and colleagues (2001), wheelchair basketball players revealed receptiveness towards meeting with a sport psychologist and acknowledged the need for a sport psychologist intervention. A variety of stigmas related to seeing sport psychologists were identified by the previously mentioned authors
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