Abstract
Sport has been promoted as a means of increasing the social inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities. Suitable tools for evaluating this claim are not readily available. The aim of this study was to develop a self-report tool for use by people with intellectual disabilities regarding the social inclusion they experience in sport and in the community. A three-phase process was used. In the first phase an item bank of questionnaire items was created and field-tested with 111 participants. Initial factor analysis identified 42 items which were further evaluated in Phase 2 with 941 participants from six European countries. Construct validity was established first through Exploratory and then Confirmatory factor analysis. These analyses identified ten items relating to inclusion in sports and ten to inclusion in local communities. A third phase checked the usability and test-retest reliability of the short form with a further 228 participants. In all, 1280 athletes and non-disabled partners were involved from eight countries. This short social inclusion questionnaire has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure for use transnationally. Further psychometric properties remain to be tested; notably its sensitivity to change resulting from interventions aimed at promoting social inclusion.
Highlights
People with intellectual disability often face social isolation [1]
This confirmed that items relating to Sport loaded on different factors to those relating to inclusion in local neighborhoods
Inclusion in sport: The results showed that the Kaiser-Meyer- Olkin (KMO) value for the sport inclusion items was 0.731, and the significance of Bartlett’s sphericity was p < 0.001 (χ2 = 734.47, df = 45, p < 0.001)
Summary
People with intellectual disability often face social isolation [1]. The stigma and prejudices associated with this disability internationally has alienated them within their communities [2], even within their family circle [3]. In part, their exclusion is compounded by the specialist services provided to them and their families. Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [5] outlines a vision of their inclusion within society with its principles of “full and effective participation and inclusion within society.”. Article 30 of the Convention focuses on participation in sport and asserts that: “States
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