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Depression

New research led by researchers in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University has examined the depression status of more than 51,000 young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ontario from 1995 to 2015.

The long-term, population-based research study, led by Dr. Meghann Lloyd, Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University, is revolutionary in demonstrating an important relationship between inclusive physical activity and the rate of depression.

The study, which uses statistical modelling of Special Olympics registration data and administrative health records data held at ICES, divided subjects into two categories: those who had participated in Special Olympics and those who had not. Depression diagnosis rates among those in each group were calculated and compared over the 20-year period to reveal significant results:

Special Olympics participants were 49% less likely to develop depression compared to non-participants.
Across the period of up to 20 years, the risk of depression was 9.49 per 1,000 person years in Special Olympics participants compared to 19.98 per 1,000 person years for non-participants.
Age, sex, type of community (rural vs urban), affluence, and morbidity of individuals did not influence the outcome of the study.
These are exciting findings for the team. This study provides strong evidence that participating in Special Olympics has a positive impact on mental health which means that community-based physical activity programs, like Special Olympics, can be a great social prescription for health care providers and social service workers to use when supporting young adults with IDD in their mental health and well-being.”
Dr. Meghann Lloyd, Lead Author and Researcher with the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ontario Tech University.

Evidence has shown that young adults with intellectual or developmental disability are more likely to have depression than their peers without intellectual or developmental disability, and that they tend to have lower levels of physical activity, on average. Special Olympics provides the unique opportunity for young adults with intellectual or developmental disability to improve their physical activity while developing social skills and supporting friendships. By comparing the rate of depression in young adult Special Olympics participants with intellectual or developmental disability to non-participants with intellectual or developmental disability, the new research concluded that Special Olympics participants with intellectual or developmental disability experienced a significantly lower rate of depression than individuals with intellectual or developmental disability who did not participate in Special Olympics, in fact, the risk of depression was cut in half.