Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the role of physical activity and sports participation on physical self-concept and self-esteem in adolescents and young adults with and without physical disability. The participants were 1149 individuals aged between 13 and 28 (578 boys and 571 girls). They were divided into four groups: (A) without disability who practised sport (n = 742), (B) without disability who did not practise sport (n = 264), (C) physical disabled who practised sport (n = 109), (D) physical disabled who did not practise sport (n = 34). The participants completed the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ; Marsh, Richards, Johnson, Roche, & Tremayne, 1994) in a cross-sectional design. The results highlighted that individuals with physical disability who practised sport obtained similar results to the people without disability who practised sport in a ten of the eleven PSDQ scales. Finally it seems possible to assert that persons with physical disability who practise sport present a positive physical self-concept and good self-esteem.
Highlights
Self-concept is one of the most researched constructs within the framework of educational psychology, psychology of the personality, and social psychology
We hypothesize that adolescents and young adults with physical impairment who regularly practice sport present similar levels of physical self-concept than their peers involved in sport activities that are without disability
Comparison between the four groups supported the hypothesis that adolescents and young adults who regularly practice sport present higher levels of physical self-concept than their peers who are not involved in sports activities and that adolescents and young adults with physical impairment who regularly practice sport present similar levels of physical self-concept than their peers involved in sport activities that are without disability
Summary
Self-concept is one of the most researched constructs within the framework of educational psychology, psychology of the personality, and social psychology. As far as Fox (1998) affirms, self-concept refers to how an individual perceives him or herself, or the self-described profile based on a multitude of roles and attributes that we believe make up one’s own self. Self-concept is comprised of various dimensions (social, physical, and academic), that pose themselves in a hierarchical manner, in order to construct the global self and have an influence on selfesteem. The stability of self-concept, in a global form, refers to the fact that it is not susceptible to change (Marsh & Yeung, 1998). Corporeal self-recognition constitutes a component of self-concept that is not easy to define in unambiguous terms
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