Abstract
Objective: The present study was carried out to describe the level and type of irrational beliefs among athletes in the National Disabled Athletics Team.
Methods & Materials: This was a Descriptive Survey study in which 71 athletes (male & female) with a mean age of 30.2 years participated. Jones Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT) was used to collect data. The latter consists of 100 items and 10 subscales: Demand for Approval, High Self-Expectations, Blame Proneness, Frustration Reactivity, Emotional Irresponsibility, Anxious Overconcern, Problem Avoidance, Dependency, Helplessness, and Perfectionism.
Results: Among different types of irrational beliefs, the highest mean was observed in the ‘High Self-Expectations’ subscale (mean=31.38 SD=5.3). The lowest mean was observed in the ‘Problem Avoidance’ subscale (mean=24.37 SD=4.5). The mean for the overall core of Irrational Beliefs was 280.11 (SD=19.5). The lowest overall score was 231 and the highest overall score was 322.
Conclusion: The existence of irrational beliefs among disabled athletes warrants the need for the identification and correction of such beliefs through proper interventions.