Abstract:
Several studies have demonstrated the profoundly favorable effect of routine
physical activity on health, physical and mental growth of individuals with
intellectual impairments. Different adapted sports activities for kids and teenagers
with developmental impairments are increasingly used in real life. The purpose of
this study was to assess the effect of the adapted soccer program on psychosocial
behaviors in adolescents with Down syndrome. Forty Down syndrome
adolescents (mean age of 15.8, level of range 40 -60) were divided into two groups
using stratified random sampling (experimental and control). Each group
consisted of twenty (n=20) subjects and was assigned to the experimental group
and control group. The experimental group underwent an adapted soccer program
for eight weeks, 3 sessions per week and each session 90 minutes. The control
group did not take part in any activity of the study. Aggression, attention, anxiety,
withdrawal and social problems were taken as criterion variables in this study. The
pretest was taken before the program period and the posttest was conducted
immediately after the eight-week program period. The criterion variables were
assessed through the standard questionnaire (CBCL 6-18). The collected data were
analyzed by using the SPSS 21 version from Two-way ANOVA, Independent
sample t-test to find out the significant difference between the experimental group
and control group. The result revealed the initial level, all five variables showed
statistically significant improvement. However, the control group showed no
significant differences during the same period. As a result, it was observed that the
adapted soccer program for Down syndrome teenagers reduced anxiety,
withdrawnness, attention issues, aggression and social problem. This study
proved that an adapted soccer program would improve the psycho-social
behaviors of Down syndrome adolescents.
