Active gaming for physical and mental health in young people with disabilities

Background

Children and young people with disabilities (FND) are less physically active and play less sports than others of the same age (CIF 2017). A study showed that young people with FND were significantly less physically active and more sedentary compared to peers without FND (Lobenius-Palmér et al., 2017). The study saw differences between different FNDs, the least active being those with autism and people with physical disabilities and most active were those with intellectual FND, although still less than peers without FND. Physical activity levels decrease from childhood to adolescence in young people with FND, which is consistent with how it looks in the population as a whole (Lobenius-Palmér et al., 2017).

An interest in being physically active and involved in sports is established early in life. For many children, physical education classes in school is an important place for physical activity, but also a place where students try different sports that can then become a leisure time activity. For students with FND, physical education classes in school can lead to experience of exclusion where they feel that they are singled out and teased, which can lead to them refraining from participating in physical education in school (Apelmo, 2017). This in turn can lead to the threshold being higher for young people with FND to start exercising.

Visible and hidden FNDs pose challenges to sports participation. For those that are part of parasports, participation can reduce the feeling of exclusion, but obstacles to parasport participation include lack of knowledge, accessibility and long distances to parasports clubs (Bergström et al., 2010). Hidden FND includes, for example,attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and for young people with ADHD, sports participation takes place together with young people of the same age without FND. Organized sports such as team sports are based on the participants having good motor skills, planning skills and social interaction, something that can be challenging with ADHD (Mangerud et al., 2014).

Constantly failing in sports performance causes young people with FND to quit organized sports earlier or may never start (Attention 2017). This can lead to exclusion and in its place computer gaming (e-gaming or e-sports) becomes more important since it can offer a community and online friends. E-gaming has become more inclusive for people with FND where adapted technology has increased accessibility (Thompson et al., 2021) and gaming meetings for young people with and without FND (e.g. Young gamers) are available. However, adolescents with ADHD are overrepresented among those who spend a lot of time e-gaming (Thorell et al., 2022) and among those who develop a gaming addiction (Salerno et al., 2022). E-gaming can thus have both positive and negative effects. For young people with FND, the social interaction in online games can provide friends who may not be available in or outside of school. However, many parents are worried that e-gaming will take over and lead to increased sedentary time and ill health.

Research question

Can active gaming in young people with FND have a positive effect on physical activity, motor skills, sedentary behaviour, self-efficacy, intrinsic and external motivation, cognitive abilities, perceived health and well-being compared to peers with FND who continue with e-gaming without active gaming?