Author(s): SOMEYA, Y., SEKIYA, Y., MIYASHITA, O., SHIOTA, Y., WATANABE, T., TAKAZAWA, Y., Institution: JUNTENDO UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1299

INTRODUCTION:
Expectations are growing for sport to serve as a policy tool in realizing a society where people with and without physical, intellectual, and mental disabilities live together. Special Olympics implements "Unified Sports," in which individuals with and without intellectual disabilities participate in sports together. Unified Sports has been shown to improve communication skills, confidence, and mental health among individuals with intellectual disabilities. While positive effects on able-bodied participants’ attitudes toward disability have been demonstrated, the impact on their own mental health remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify whether participating in Unified Sports improves both attitudes toward disability and mental health among able-bodied individuals.
METHODS:
Fifty-one able-bodied university students (age: 19.9 ± 1.4 years, female: 47.1%) participated as partners in Unified Sports between November 2024 and September 2025. Each participant attended only one Unified Sports session during this period. Attitudes toward disability were assessed using the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP-O), and mental health was measured using the Mental Health Continuum–Short Form for Japanese (MHC-SF-J). Assessments were conducted immediately before and after participation. Participants were grouped based on prior experience interacting with individuals with intellectual disabilities, and pre–post changes were compared.
RESULTS:
The median ATDP-O score was 67.0 (IQR: 59.0–76.0), and the median MHC-SF-J score was 46.0 (IQR: 27.0–60.0). Participants with prior interaction experience showed had higher ATDP-O (+6.0 points, 95%CI: −1.0–12.0) and MHC-SF-J (+10.0 points, 95%CI: −2.0–21.0) scores than participants who were interacting for the first time in this study. Following participation, ATDP-O increased by +0.8 points (95%CI: −2.5–4.0; p = 0.67) and MHC-SF-J increased by +0.5 points (95%CI: −1.0–2.0; p = 0.46), indicating no statistically significant change. Among first-time participants, ATDP-O increased by +2.0 points (95%CI: −3.0–6.5), whereas participants with interaction experience showed a slight decrease (−0.5 points; 95%CI: −5.0–4.0). Conversely, MHC-SF-J increased by +1.5 points (95%CI: −0.5–6.0) among those with interaction experience, while first-time participants showed a slight decrease (−0.5 points; 95%CI: −4.0–1.5). Between-group differences were not statistically significant (all p > 0.05).
CONCLUSION:
Participation in a single Unified Sports session did not result in statistically significant improvements in attitudes toward disability or mental health among able-bodied university students. Subgroup trends suggested small differences according to prior interact experience, but these were not significant. These findings indicate that short-term, one-time participation may be insufficient to produce measurable psychological changes. Further studies with repeated and sustained engagement are needed to clarify the potential impact of Unified Sports on psychosocial outcomes.