The effects of social support on daily stress and mental health of visually impaired people

Matsunaka, Kumiko

doi:10.11560/jahp.16.2_53

Cited by 1 publication

(4 citation statements)

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“…These findings suggested that the mental health condition of visually impaired athletes showed almost a similar level as that in sighted athletes observed in the previous study [34]. Although as stated in Introduction section [3-17], visually impaired or physically disabled people are easily prone to develop mental or psychological distress/disturbances/disorders, whereas current study findings in visually impaired athletes exhibit a relatively low percentage of bad mental health through a globally recognized assessment tool. These results may add impact on the significance of PAs for maintaining good mental health irrespective of physical disability like visual impairment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…Contradictory to our findings, the majority of the studies suggested that older people, children, and young adults who have visual impairments developed more emotional problems than did their sighted peers [3-17]. Young people who are visually impaired may have fewer opportunities and chances to make friends and may face issues of social isolation, discrimination, and, consequently, they may develop emotional and communication problems in daily life [36], but when they are athletes, they may have more social exposure and interaction affecting their mental health positively.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…Impaired vision is associated with mental fatigue [7, 8], less social contact [9, 10] and can induce feelings of loneliness and social isolation [9, 10] and these psychological disorders are even evident in children [11-16]. This global trend of mental health disturbance among visually impaired people is also prevalent and familiar in Japan [17]. Mental health status measured by General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ28) was worse in visually impaired people than in sighted people [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This global trend of mental health disturbance among visually impaired people is also prevalent and familiar in Japan [17]. Mental health status measured by General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ28) was worse in visually impaired people than in sighted people [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mental Health Status and Related Factors Among Visually Impaired Athletes

et al. 2019

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BackgroundA growing body of pieces of evidence suggests that sport activity is of potential importance both for physical and mental health. To date, there is a lack of information and evidence regarding the mental health of visually impaired people playing some extent of sports and recognized as athletes with renowned career track. The present study aims to clarify the mental health status and its related factors in visually impaired athletes.MethodsThe current study was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional investigation. Visually impaired athletes (n = 81; men: 72.8%; average age: 32.8 ± 12.0 years) engaged in Paralympic sports events namely track and field (marathon), goalball, swimming, blind soccer, and judo were the study subjects from leading institutions in Japan. A diverse range of issues were included in a questionnaire survey like attributes, condition of visual impairment, competition activities, competition stressors, social support, and mental health status (recorded through the K6 scale). Logistic regression analyses were performed with mental health status as a dependent variable and other studied parameters as independent variables.ResultsA total of 21.0% of study participants (11.9% of men and 45.5% of women) showed bad mental health condition. Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that “female” (odds ratio (OR) 11.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.60 - 54.76, P = 0.001), “higher evaluation from one’s surroundings for competition stressors” (OR 5.74, 95% CI 1.34 - 24.60, P = 0.019), and “lower social support from family members” (OR 3.97, 95% CI 1.03 - 15.25, P = 0.045) were the risk factors of bad mental health.ConclusionsThe mental health status among visually impaired athletes might be almost the same level as non-visually impaired athletes and general population, and have relation to gender, stress of evaluation from surroundings during competition, and social support from family members. It may be necessary to pay attention especially to women, and improve one’s surroundings of competition stressors and family social support to maintaining the mental health of visually impaired athletes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%