How is the participation of individuals with disabilities studied and understood in current research within the sport context? A systematic literature review

In sports literature, the study of the participation of people with disabilities has largely focused on physical activity and leisure. Both within, and across, these contexts, participation is an ambiguous term. To date, there has been no systematic review of how participation is understood in research within organized sport. The aim of this study was to fill this knowledge gap and add to the body of research on participation and disability sports. The project involved a systematic review of relevant literature. Within included studies (N = 58), researchers mostly understood participation as attendance. The involvement dimension was only considered in 31% of studies, however, results show that involvement is particularly challenging to measure. Participation was studied in relation to three overarching themes: ‘Sports for all’, as a means of achieving ‘The good life’ and ‘Normalcy’. Within organized sport, more research is needed that explores the participation of people with disabilities for its inherent value, rather than viewing it as a means or an end. Moreover, when studying subjective experiences of participation, it is recommended that researchers choose empirical, rather than ideological, approaches. Finally, researchers should be deliberate in their choice of quantitative designs due to the often-small sample sizes.