Explaining Physical Activity in Individuals with Mental Retardation: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This study investigated physical activity patterns of seven adolescents with mental retardation over a seven day period. Further, motivation, fitness levels, physical activity of one caregiver, and parent interview responses were triangulated to study this select group. Results indicated that two main factors explained physical activity in participants. A very large relationship existed between age and minutes of moderate physical activity and social reasons emerged as a key theme during caregiver interviews. Intrinsic motivation scores were high and amotivation scores were relatively low in the sample. Physical activity data resulted in 6 to 14 bouts of moderate physical activity per day lasting from 2 to 4 min depending on the case. This pattern of short periods of moderate physical activity is consistent with results from similar studies on children without disabilities.