Short-term benefits of adaptive sporting events on social and leisure satisfaction in veterans with disabilities: impact of military service era and medical diagnosis

INTRODUCTION: Veterans with physical or mental health disabilities often experience reduced quality of life following military service. Adaptive sporting events may help mitigate these challenges by providing physical, social, and psychological benefits. This study examined the acute effects of single-day adaptive sporting events on satisfaction with social and leisure participation in veterans with disabilities. We hypothesized that participation would acutely improve quality-of-life-related outcomes. METHODS: Participants engaged in either an adaptive kayaking and sailing event or an adaptive cycling and hiking event and completed the PROMIS Satisfaction with Participation in Discretionary Social Activities survey before and after the event. Mixed-effects models were used to estimate predicted T-scores, adjusting for military service era, medical diagnosis, sex, and event type. RESULTS: Findings indicated that participation in adaptive sporting events was associated with modest but statistically significant increases in predicted T-scores following the events. Additionally, veterans from more recent service eras reported lower predicted quality-of-life-related T-scores at baseline, whereas veterans with limb loss had higher predicted T-scores than those with other diagnoses. Improvements were most apparent among veterans with lower or intermediate baseline satisfaction, whereas ceiling effects limited observable change among those with higher baseline scores. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that adaptive sports can provide immediate psychosocial benefits, and may be particularly valuable for veterans with lower baseline satisfaction with social and leisure participation. Future adaptive sporting events should prioritize engagement of veterans from recent conflicts to optimize short-term improvements in quality of life. These findings highlight the value of adaptive sports as a low-barrier, community-based intervention for enhancing social and leisure satisfaction in veterans living with disabilities.