European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity, 2012 (vol. 5), issue 2

PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE PORTUGUESE VERSION OF THE TEST OF PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES (TOPSp) IN ATHLETES WITH DISABILITIES

Tânia Lima Bastos, Rui Corredeira, Michel Probst, António Manuel Fonseca

European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity 5, 7-21 (2012) | DOI: 10.5507/euj.2012.006  

The importance of psychological preparation in the success of athletes is well accepted. However, it still remains a lack of valid and reliable instruments to assess the athletes' psychological skills. The goal of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of a preliminary Portuguese version of the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPSp) in athletes with disabilities. Seventy athletes (age M=33.3 yrs; SD=12.2 yrs) completed the TOPSp. The questionnaire was translated following the methodological suggestion of Vallerand (1989). The internal consistency of the subscales of the TOPSp was acceptable (α=.60-.81), with the exception of automaticity...

EXAMING CURRENT PROVISION, PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE OF INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING PROVIDERS IN IRELAND PREPARING PRE SERVICE TEACHERS FOR THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES

Susan Crawford, R O'Reilly, N Flanagan

European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity 5, 23-44 (2012) | DOI: 10.5507/euj.2012.007  

Research from an international perspective in relation to the preparation of pre service teachers in physical education and special educational needs indicates that initial teacher training providers are inconsistent in the amount of time spent addressing the issue and the nature of curricular content (Vickerman, 2007). In Ireland, research of Meegan and MacPhail (2005) and Crawford (2011) indicates that physical education teachers do not feel adequately prepared to accommodate students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in physical education classes. This study examined initial teacher training provision in Ireland in the training of pre service...

RESEARCH TRENDS IN ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON THE BASE OF APAO JOURNAL (2006-2010)

Fevronia Karkaletsi, Emmanouil K. Skordilis, Christina Evaggelinou, Eirini Grammatopoulou, Eirini Spanaki

European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity 5, 45-64 (2012) | DOI: 10.5507/euj.2012.008  

The present study attempted to identify the research trends in Adapted Physical Activity-APA. Documentary analysis was used to evaluate 99 research studies in APAQ from 2006 to 2010. The majority of publications examined psychosocial issues (29.29%), measurement/ assessment/ classification (20.20%), exercise science/ physical activity (14.14%), motor behavior, biomechanics (8.08%) and disability sports (21.21%). Samples of individuals with physical disabilities (17.89%), different disability categories (14.73%) and mental retardation/ intellectual disability (12.63%) were reported more often. For the quantitative vs qualitative distinction,...

PARTICIPATION IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND EVERYDAY LIFE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Anne Merete Kissow, John Singhammer

European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity 5, 65-81 (2012) | DOI: 10.5507/euj.2012.009  

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between participating in physical activity on a regular basis and civic activities for people with disabilities. Data were collected using telephone interviews with 1,321 people, who reported having some impairment related to legs, arms, hands, vision, behaviour or intellect. The sample was randomly selected by The Danish National Centre for Social Research, which also conducted the interviews. The data material is representative of all persons in Denmark aged 16 - 64 years according to gender, age, income, employment and education, and analyses were conducted using STATA 11.2. The study...

ATTITUDES OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS (LAST UNIVERSITY YEAR) AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS TOWARD TEACHING CHILDREN WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES IN GENERAL PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES IN BULGARIA

Anna Petkova, Martin Kudláček, Elena Nikolova

European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity 5, 82-98 (2012) | DOI: 10.5507/euj.2012.010  

Attitudes of teachers is an important determinant of behavior in educational settings (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002), and on going discussion suggests it is possible to predict behavior from intentions (Ajzen, 2005). The purpose of this study was to describe the attitudes and predictors of intention toward inclusion of students with physical disabilities in general physical education classes of Bulgarian physical education teachers (PET) and last year university students (LYUS). The ATIPDPE-BG instrument was used to measure attitudes of LYUS from the National Sports Academy "Vassil Levski", Sofia, Bulgaria and Bulgarian PET. Participants were in total...