Leisure Activities and Loneliness Among People with Disabilities
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status in almost all leisure activities, except for ‘attending church’ and ‘political
initiatives’ (only between people without disabilities and with moderate disabilities). For example, the highest differentials of participation between people without
disabilities and moderate disabilities are found for the leisure activities ‘cinema’
(0.33 points), ‘doing sports’ (0.26 points), and ‘meeting family and friends’ (0.17
points). In addition, the differential is also significant between people with moderate
and severe disabilities for ‘doing sports’ (0.63 points), ‘cinema’ (0.57 points), and
‘meeting family and friends’ (0.29 points). For the leisure activity ‘doing sports’,
it is worthwhile mentioning that authors such as Anderson and Heyne (2010) and
Cress et al. (2006) conclude that physical activity for people with disabilities is even
more important than for people without disabilities, because it can help ameliorate
or prevent higher rates of deleterious conditions (e.g. obesity and diabetes) and an
inadequate sedentary lifestyle that reduces their functional capacities and abilities
to work, recreate and participate in community events. In addition, and according to
Levinson et al. (1991), the lack of social support (e.g. friends, relatives, sport mates,
and colleagues) can become a strong barrier to participation in sports for people with
disabilities.
Looking at the econometric results shown in Table 1, we find that for both specifications the participation in ‘meeting family and friends’ has the strongest negative
effect on loneliness (around 0.14 points). Namely, having a higher participation
in social gatherings with relatives, friends and neighbours contributes to having
low loneliness scores for all individuals. Leisure activities such as ‘doing sports’,
‘volunteer work’, ‘cinema’, and ‘cultural events’ also reduce the levels of loneliness but in a lower way. These results are in line with those previously shown in
Table 1. On contrary, we find a significant and positive effect of ‘artistic activities’,
‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’ on loneliness. To investigate this result,
we have calculated the correlation matrix between loneliness and the leisure activities. According to Appendix Table A.1, we detect the lowest correlations of these
three leisure activities with loneliness. In contrast, we find strong correlations with
other leisure activities, which may explain the sign of the coefficients on ‘artistic
activities’, ‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’. For example, the activity
‘artistic activities’ show a high significant correlation with ‘cultural events’ (0.325),
whereas ‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’ are strongly correlated with
‘volunteer work’ (0.290 and 0.309, respectively).
3
In line with the existing literature (e.g. Dykstra et al. 2004; Paul et al. 2006;
Korporaal et al. 2008; Macdonald 2018), we find that people with moderate and
severe disabilities have higher levels of loneliness than people without disabilities.
According to specification 1, having a moderate and severe disability increases loneliness up to 0.144 and 0.272 points with respect to the reference person (i.e. people
3 We have re-estimated our regressions on loneliness excluding these three leisure activities (i.e.
‘artistic activities’, ‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’) and the results are similar to those
shown in Table 1, except for the coefficient on ‘volunteer work’ that becomes insignificant at
conventional levels. We have also run a version including only these three activities, and the results
showed that only the coefficient on ‘attending church’ was significant and negative at the 5% level.
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status in almost all leisure activities, except for ‘attending church’ and ‘political
initiatives’ (only between people without disabilities and with moderate disabilities). For example, the highest differentials of participation between people without
disabilities and moderate disabilities are found for the leisure activities ‘cinema’
(0.33 points), ‘doing sports’ (0.26 points), and ‘meeting family and friends’ (0.17
points). In addition, the differential is also significant between people with moderate
and severe disabilities for ‘doing sports’ (0.63 points), ‘cinema’ (0.57 points), and
‘meeting family and friends’ (0.29 points). For the leisure activity ‘doing sports’,
it is worthwhile mentioning that authors such as Anderson and Heyne (2010) and
Cress et al. (2006) conclude that physical activity for people with disabilities is even
more important than for people without disabilities, because it can help ameliorate
or prevent higher rates of deleterious conditions (e.g. obesity and diabetes) and an
inadequate sedentary lifestyle that reduces their functional capacities and abilities
to work, recreate and participate in community events. In addition, and according to
Levinson et al. (1991), the lack of social support (e.g. friends, relatives, sport mates,
and colleagues) can become a strong barrier to participation in sports for people with
disabilities.
Looking at the econometric results shown in Table 1, we find that for both specifications the participation in ‘meeting family and friends’ has the strongest negative
effect on loneliness (around 0.14 points). Namely, having a higher participation
in social gatherings with relatives, friends and neighbours contributes to having
low loneliness scores for all individuals. Leisure activities such as ‘doing sports’,
‘volunteer work’, ‘cinema’, and ‘cultural events’ also reduce the levels of loneliness but in a lower way. These results are in line with those previously shown in
Table 1. On contrary, we find a significant and positive effect of ‘artistic activities’,
‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’ on loneliness. To investigate this result,
we have calculated the correlation matrix between loneliness and the leisure activities. According to Appendix Table A.1, we detect the lowest correlations of these
three leisure activities with loneliness. In contrast, we find strong correlations with
other leisure activities, which may explain the sign of the coefficients on ‘artistic
activities’, ‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’. For example, the activity
‘artistic activities’ show a high significant correlation with ‘cultural events’ (0.325),
whereas ‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’ are strongly correlated with
‘volunteer work’ (0.290 and 0.309, respectively).
3
In line with the existing literature (e.g. Dykstra et al. 2004; Paul et al. 2006;
Korporaal et al. 2008; Macdonald 2018), we find that people with moderate and
severe disabilities have higher levels of loneliness than people without disabilities.
According to specification 1, having a moderate and severe disability increases loneliness up to 0.144 and 0.272 points with respect to the reference person (i.e. people
3 We have re-estimated our regressions on loneliness excluding these three leisure activities (i.e.
‘artistic activities’, ‘attending church’ and ‘political initiatives’) and the results are similar to those
shown in Table 1, except for the coefficient on ‘volunteer work’ that becomes insignificant at
conventional levels. We have also run a version including only these three activities, and the results
showed that only the coefficient on ‘attending church’ was significant and negative at the 5% level.