The Effects of Physical Education and Sports on the Self-Concept of the Children with Mild Mental Disabilities

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 10-week research-based Special Physical Education Program (SPEP) on the self-concept levels of students with mild mental disabilities (MMR) aged between 8 and 16 from the perspectives of Special Education and Physical Education by taking their socio-demographic characteristics into consideration. The sample of the research was comprise of 145 students with MR (57 in control and 88 in experimental group) who lived in the city center of Antakya Province and within the city borders, attended to special education centers. The participants were selected by the school psychologists out of the students whose IQs ranged between 50 and 70. The research was designed in a pre test-post-test control group model. Socio demographic forms and PierreHarris Self-Concept Scale were used in order to collect quantitative data in the present research. The study results demonstrated that after participating SPEP, control group had improved total and sub-scale scores in Pierre-Harris Self-Concept Scale. Before SPEP, levels of anxiety among female participants were higher than their male counterparts. After a 10 week SPEP intervention, boys improved their perception of success (p<0.01), while girls increased their scores on Behavioral Adjustment(p<0.05) compare to the other gender.