Examining the anxiety of catching epidemic diseases and psychological well-being levels of physically disabled athletes

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the anxiety of catching epidemic diseases and the psychological well-being levels of physically disabled athletes. In the research where the descriptive scanning model was used, a total of 211 athletes, 68 female and 143 male, who held an active license in the Turkish Physically Disabled Sports Federation (TBESF) in the 2023-2024 season participated. In obtaining the data in the research; the twelve-item "Diagnostic Information Form" developed by the researcher, the "Epidemic Anxiety Scale" developed by Hızlı Sayar et al. (2020), and the "Psychological Well-Being Scale" developed by Diener et al. (2010), which was adapted to Turkish culture by Telef (2013), were used. As a result of the analysis of the study, significant differences were found in the participants' research scales: age, education and income level for psychological well-being; the status of catching an epidemic disease, losing a family member due to an epidemic disease, age, income level and the level of overcoming the epidemic disease for epidemic anxiety. For both scales, no difference was found according to demographic variables such as gender, marital status, chronic disease status, and reason for disability. No relationship was found between the participants' psychological well-being level and epidemic anxiety level. As a result; It was determined that variables such as age, education and income level, catching an epidemic disease, losing a family member due to the disease, and the level of overcoming the disease are important for psychological well-being and/or epidemic anxiety in physically disabled athletes. In addition, although there was no significant relationship between the scales, it was determined that the types of feared diseases affected the epidemic anxiety level by 9.6% and the psychological well-being level by 8.9%.