Sport Participation, Life Satisfaction and Domains of Satisfaction among People with Disabilities

This study investigates the relationship between sport participation and the life satisfaction scores reported by people without and with disabilities, wherein overall life satisfaction is seen as an aggregate of satisfaction levels regarding various domains of life (and consistent with the bottom-up spillover theory). Using longitudinal data taken from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the period 1984–2013, this study presents estimates from a two-layer model that allows life satisfaction to be explained by the satisfaction scores reported by individuals with respect to six different domains of life satisfaction (i.e. job, health, housework, household income, dwelling, and leisure). We found that sport participation has a positive and significant correlation with the levels of satisfaction with health, housework, and leisure reported by people with disabilities. Furthermore, the domains of satisfaction with health, housework and household income are the main contributors to the enhancement of their levels of overall life satisfaction. However, the interrelations of these domains of life satisfaction with overall life satisfaction are mainly transitory. From a public policy perspective, it is necessary to undertake the design and implementation of inclusive public and private sport programs for people with disabilities that contribute to increasing not only their levels of overall life satisfaction but also other facets of life satisfaction.