Strengthening disability identity through social networks

Katharine Hayward, PhD, MPH

Tarjan Center at UCLA139th Annual APHA Meeting

November 1, 2011

Background

People with disabilities indicate the major obstacles they encounter are bias, prejudice, and discrimination.

Disability Rights Movement First phase-ensure civil rights through legislation

(Sect. 504 of Rehabilitation Act, ADA) Second phase-quest for collective identity

Importance of the Study

Internalized stigma is associated with low self-esteem, poor self-concept, social isolation, decreased help-seeking behaviors, and limited life chances.

Greater unity is needed to advance the goals of the disability rights movement.

Specific Aim

To describe ways to measure disability identity and what factors contribute to a positive disability identity.

Conceptual Framework

Methods

College students with disabilities from two large public universities (n=102)

Self-administered questionnaire available online or hard copy distributed in student’s notes folder given during face-to-face meetings online survey could be directly accessed

through link in announcement

Demographic Characteristics of the Sample

Predominantly female (70.6%)

Majority were in their twenties

(M=25 years)A little over half

were White (55.9%)

56%

20%

13%

7%4%

1%

Chart Title

WhiteAsian/PIHispanicOtherBlackNative American

Disability Characteristics of the Sample

A little more than half of the participants had a physical disability

or a learning disability/ADD

31%

26%

17%

13%

11%

3%

Chart Title

learningphysicalmultiplepsychologicalsensoryother

Disability Characteristics of the Sample (cont’d)

Age of onset ranged from birth to 45 years (mean=15, median=17)

Approximately 60% reported having a slight or moderate disability

Contact with People with Disabilities

Number know with a disability ranged from 0 to 101 (mean=10, median=4)

52.9% had frequent contact (daily/weekly)

52.0 % had a close friend with a disability

Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support

Cronbach’s alpha of 0.92Assess social support from 3 sources

Family Significant other Friends

Disability Identity Scale (α=.70)

Proud to be person with a disabilityPart of disability communityWouldn’t want to be curedUncomfortable talking about disability (R)Ashamed of disability (R)

Contact and Disability Identity

Having a close friend with a disability is associated with a positive disability identity mediated by frequency of contact and the number of people known with a disability.

ANCOVA showed only the covariate, (log of) number of people known with a disability, as significantly related to disability identity (F=7.33, p<0.01)

Predictors of Disability Identity

Disability identity =b0 + b1sex + b2ageonset+ b3severity + b4knowdisability + b5amountcontact+b6socialsupport + b7numberfriends

Full model with seven predictors significant (F=6.81, p<0.001)

Accounts for 34.0% (29.0% adjusted) of the variance of disability identity.

Predictors of Disability Identity (cont’d)

Backward elimination was used to identify a simpler model of four predictors (F=11.60, p<0.001)

Four predictors were: gender, frequent contact, (log of) number of people known with a disability, number of close friends

Final model accounts for 33.0% (30.0% adjusted) of the variance in disability identity scores.

Unstandardized Regression Coefficients (Standard Errors) and Standardized Regression Coefficients for the Final Model of Disability Identity

Predictor Variable b (Std. error) βGender Female -0.67 (0.24)** -0.24Frequent contact 0.49 (0.24)* 0.19No. of known with disability (log) 0.33 (0.12)** 0.26No. of close friends 0.09 (0.03)* 0.30Constant 2.46 (0.28)***

F 11.60R2 0.33Adj R2 0.30*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001

Implications

Social networks are important in formation of positive self-concept and in creating a positive disability identity.

Disability identity seen as tied to work of disability rights movement.

Highlights the need for opportunities to interact with others with disabilities.