A Comparison of Self- esteem and Mental Health in Blind Athletes and Non-athletes from 13 to 30 years in Mashhad

The purpose of this research was to study and compare self-esteem and mental health in blind athletes and non-athletes.

in this contextual study, 100 individuals (59 blind athletes and 41 non-athletes) from first national sport Olympiad of Mashhad female and male participants were selected randomly and GHQ and Rosenberg's Self- Esteem Scale were used. For data analyses, Mann-Whitney U, t-test, spearman correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used.

there were significant differences between two groups in self-esteem and mental health (P>0.01). Also, there was significant relationship among mental health, social dysfunction and depression subscales of them negatively (P>0.01). But, physical symptoms and anxiety had no significant relationship to self-esteem. Also, there was not significant relationship in self-esteem and mental health of non-athlete group. Regression analysis indicated that social dysfunction could predict self-esteem significantly.

The results of this studyconfirmed the significant role of exercise on self-esteem and mental health promotion in blindathletes. Therefore, it seems important to encourage blind persons to physical activity for reinforcement of their psychological traits.