Explain the Role of Social Capital in Relation to Sports Participation and Self-Efficacy in the Physically Disabled

Introduction: One of the most important determinants of participation of people with physical disabilities in various activities is self-efficacy. The aim of this study was to determine the role of social capital in relation to sports participation and self-efficacy in the physically disabled in Shahrekord, Iran. Methods: The method of the present study is descriptive-correlation. The statistical population of this study included all physically disabled people in Shahrekord (number = 2139). Based on the Cochran's formula, at an error level of 5%, 228 people were selected as the convenience sample. The research instruments were the “Social Capital Questionnaire”, the “Sports Participation Questionnaire”, and the “General Self-Efficacy Scale”. Face validity, content validity by qualitative method and construct validity by convergent validity of instruments and reliability by internal consistency method were evaluated and confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient and composite reliability. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS .23 and PLS 3. Results: The proposed model had a good fit. Participation in sports activities is significantly correlated with self-efficacy (β=0.448, t=4.935) and social capital (β = 0.165, t = 2.262) of physically disabled. Self-efficacy is also significantly correlated with the social capital of the physically disabled (β=0.231, t=2.524). Conclusion: Participating in sports activities will increase the self-efficacy of the physically disabled by increasing social capital. It is suggested that psychologists and health professionals pay more attention to the role of sports participation and social capital to improve the self-efficacy of the physically disabled.