Outcomes of Adaptive Sports and Recreation Participation among Veterans Returning from Combat with Acquired Disability

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in quality of life, mood states, and sports related competence for veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom who participated in a therapeutic adaptive sports and recreation program. The researchers hypothesized that participation would lead to increases in physical, psychological, social, and environmental QoL, increases in sports related competence, and reductions in mood disturbances such as depression and anger. A total of 18 veterans participated in one of three week-long therapeutic and adaptive sports programs in Sun Valley Idaho. Veterans responded on a pretest and posttest questionnaire. Because no control group was available, multiple paired sample t-tests with Bonferoni adjustments were used to look at the differences between the pretest and posttest scores. Results identified significant pre and posttest differences in psychological health, overall quality of life, mood states including tension, depression, anger, and vigor, and sports related competence. The results highlight the impact that therapeutic adaptive sports and recreation programs potentially have for combat veterans in areas of quality of life, reduction of mood disturbances, and sports related competence.