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Belonging through sport participation for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A scoping review
Author(s) -
Zhao Winnie Mai,
Thirumal Kirtana,
Renwick Rebecca,
DuBois Denise
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 1360-2322
DOI - 10.1111/jar.12817
Subject(s) - intellectual disability , construct (python library) , athletes , psychology , context (archaeology) , proxy (statistics) , qualitative research , population , developmental psychology , sociology , social science , medicine , demography , geography , archaeology , machine learning , psychiatry , computer science , programming language , physical therapy
Background Research suggests that sport facilitates belonging for diverse athletes. This scoping review characterizes literature on sport participation and belonging for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Materials and Methods A search of five databases identified 17,497 articles. Selected articles ( N = 39) underwent data extraction and analysis guided by a theoretical framework of belonging, outlining four processes through which belonging is experienced by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Results Articles originated from developed countries and in the context of Special Olympics ( N = 17). Studies commonly used qualitative interviews with proxy respondents. While all studies described at least one belonging process, only 11 studies applied the term “belonging,” and no study defined the construct. Conclusion Belonging is not well‐conceptualized in sports literature for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Understanding belonging through sport participation for this population may inform sport‐based policies and programming.