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There is an urgent need for valid and reliable measures of physical activity (PA) participation for use among people with physical and/or sensory disabilities. This study involved adapting the Leisure Time PA Questionnaire for People with Spinal Cord Injury for use in individuals with disabilities (i.e., the LTPAQ-D) and performing a preliminary evaluation of its content validity, construct validity, and same-day test–retest reliability in people with disabilities. User interviews assessed the content validity (n = 5). A cross-sectional study assessed the construct validity and same-day test–retest reliability (n = 27, 45 ± 21 years). Participants completed the LTPAQ-D, other self-report measures of aerobic and strength training PA, as well as tests of cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e., peak oxygen consumption ( V ˙ O2peak)) and muscular strength. LTPAQ-D measures of min/week of aerobic LTPA, aerobic moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), and strength training shared medium-to-large correlations with other self-report measures of aerobic and strength training PA (r = 0.458–0.942, ps < 0.01). After controlling for age, aerobic LTPA and MVPA shared moderate partial correlations with V ˙ O2peak (r = 0.341 and 0.356, respectively). Min/week of strength training, measured by the LTPAQ-D, was associated with predicted maximal strength on the chest press (r = 0.621, p = 0.009). All LTPAQ-D measures demonstrated good-to-excellent test–retest reliability (intraclass correlations = 0.709–0.948, ps < 0.01). This study provides preliminary evidence of the validity and reliability of the LTPAQ-D as a measure of LTPA among people with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport and exercise participation are associated with small, albeit positive changes in subjective well-being (SWB). Recent theorizing has emphasized the importance of distinguishing between performance aspects (i.e., frequency, intensity, time engaged) and the experiential aspects of sport and exercise participation among people with disabilities. This study assessed the relative contributions of time spent participating in sport and exercise (a performance measure) versus measures of participation experiences, in explaining variance in SWB. Participants were 535 adults with physical disabilities, recruited through a nation-wide survey, who participated in sport (n = 271; 62% male; 44 ± 14 years) or exercise (n = 264; 42% male; 57 ± 14 years). They completed measures of minutes/week of sport or exercise participation, experiential aspects of participation, and SWB (overall life satisfaction, satisfaction with physical, psychological and social life-domains, and positive/negative affect). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed minutes/week of sport did not explain significant variance in any SWB measure, but sport participation experiences explained significant variance (9.2%–20.9%) in all SWB measures (p < 0.05). Similarly, minutes/week of exercise explained significant variance only in physical life-domain satisfaction (ΔR2 = 2.6%, p = 0.026), but exercise participation experiences explained significant variance (4.8%–10.7%) in all SWB measures (p < 0.05). Experiences of belonging and mastery were particularly strong, consistent predictors across SWB outcomes. These results suggest participation experiences better explain relationships between sport and exercise participation and SWB than time spent performing sport and exercise. Findings have implications for designing future studies to test the effects of sport and exercise on SWB, and developing theories and interventions to explain and maximize the use of sport and exercise to improve SWB in adults with disabilities. • Sport/exercise participation is modestly related to subjective well-being (SWB). • This study distinguished participation time from participation experiences. • Experiences explained more variance in SWB than time spent on sport/exercise. • Belonging and mastery experiences were strong, consistent predictors of SWB. • Results have implications for theory and intervention development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]