Recreation Participation Patterns Of Adults With And Without Mental Retardation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the recreation participation patterns of adults with (N=100) and without mental retardation (N=100). A structured in-depth interview was used to determine the diversity of respondents' recreation participation, largely through responses about 132 recreation activi-ties. Although previous research on the recreation participation of adults with mental retardation has re-ported a preponderance of solitary, passive, home-based activities, comparisons of these adults with their peers without disabilities helped provide insight concerning these previous findings. Like their peers without disabilities, the adults with mental retardation reported participating in a “core” group of activities. The adults with mental retardation, however, reported participating in far fewer recreation activities than their peers without disabilities. Significant differences in the recreation participation rates of adults with and without mental retardation were found. Although there were similarities in the types and rankings of activities in which people with and without mental retardation participate, adults with mental retardation had sig-nificantly lower participation rates in activities than their peers.