Effects of bocce game training on motor competence, quality of life and attention in individuals with mental disability

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of bocce training on the motor competence, quality of life and attention levels of children with mild mental retardation. In this study, which was conducted using a quasi-experimental design, 46 students were divided into control (n=23) and study (n=23) groups. The study group received bocce training for 60 minutes, three days a week for 12 weeks. In the study, the short form of the "Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Competence Test (BOT-2)" was applied to evaluate the motor competence level of the students, the "d2 Attention Test" was applied to measure the attention level and the "Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL)" was applied to the parents to determine the quality of life. These scales were used as both pre-test and post-test and the distribution of the data was examined with the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. For data analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test were used on BOT-2 data, and Paired Samples t test and Independent Samples t test were used for the PedsQL, Total Motor Composite Scores and d2 Attention Test data. The research findings reveal that there are statistically significant differences between the study group and the control group in terms of motor competence, total motor composite score, quality of life and attention levels (p<0.05). In particular, while there was mostly no statistically significant difference between the measurements of the control group (p˃0.05), significant differences were found between the measurements of the study group (p<0.05). The results show that bocce training has significant and positive effects on the motor competence, quality of life and attention levels of children with mild intellectual disabilities. These findings highlight the positive effects of play-based physical activities on the development of individuals with intellectual disabilities and the importance of training programs aimed at developing motor skills and attention.