Hanoch Livneh

Measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assist those engaged in research dealing with attitudes towards persons with disabilities by presenting a catalogue of various attitude measurement methods. Method: A review of the methodological and psychological literatures on the measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Results: The review uncovered 10 direct methods to measure attitudes, in which the respondents are aware that they are participating in an experiment and 14 indirect methods in four categories that are not plagued by attitude-distorting influences because the respondents are not aware that their attitudes are being measured. A discussion of each method with examples is provided, followed by implications for rehabilitation practitioners, rehabilitation education and training, and rehabilitation researchers. Conclusions: The investigation of attitudes towards persons with disabilities requires innovative experimental methods and psychometrically sound instruments that are reliable, valid, and multidimensional. Without such instruments, it will not be possible to obtain conclusive answers to important research questions concerning the relationship between these attitudes and the acceptance and integration of persons with disabilities into society.

The Measurement of Attitudes Toward People with Disabilities: Methods, Psychometrics, and Scales

The measurement of attitudes toward people with disabilities : , The measurement of attitudes toward people with disabilities : , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز

Psychosocial Adaptation to Chronic Illness and Disability A Conceptual Framework

This article reviews the fundamental components inherent in the process of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability (CID). It is proposed that investigation of the process of adaptation to CID should consider three distinct classes of interacting variables. First, antecedents or triggering events (causes and contextual variables) present during origination of condition are listed. Second, the dynamic process of adaptation itself (experienced reactions following the onset of CID), as anchored within the existing context of both internally and externally associated groups of variables, is discussed. Third, psychosocial outcome categories that reflect differing views of adaptation to CID are overviewed. Such outcomes correspond to specific or global indicators of quality of life and may be categorized according to their functional domains, content areas, technologies or methods of assessment, and sources of measurement data. This article concludes with discussion of the three-class models potential implications to rehabilitation practitioners and researchers.

Perceived Uncertainty, Spiritual Well-Being, and Psychosocial Adaptation in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: To examine the role of spiritual well-being as a mediator and moderator between perceived uncertainty and psychosocial adaptation to multiple sclerosis (MS). Participants and Design: Fifty individuals (40 women, 10 men) diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Main Outcome Measures: Selfreport measures on illness uncertainty, spiritual (religious and existential) well-being, and psychosocial adjustment to illness were analyzed by a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Results: Both uncertainty and spiritual well-being independently predicted psychosocial adjustment to MS after the influence of demographic and disability-related variables were considered. Spiritual well-being demonstrated a mediator effect but, mostly, failed to show a moderator effect. Conclusion: Spiritual well-being exerts an appreciable influence on adaptation to MS and also acts to mitigate the impact of uncertainty on adaptation. Rehabilitation psychologists may wish to consider its beneficial role as part of their clinical work. Multiple sclerosis (MS), one of the most common disabling diseases of young adults, is an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system with an estimated prevalence of about 250,000‐350,000 individuals in the United States (Devins & Shnek, 2000; Kalb, 1996; Schapiro, 1998). First symptoms usually appear at the young adult age, but the disease may also become evident later in life. The course of MS is highly variable and makes studies of etiology and possible mechanisms of treatment challenging. Because of MS’s highly variable clinical course, individual outcomes cannot be reliably predicted. For many individuals, MS starts with a relapsing‐remitting pattern with episodic exacerbations of neurological dysfunction, which remit completely or partially. Over the years, for most individuals, the disease develops into the secondary progressive form with accumulated disability (Lublin & Reingold, 1996).

Psychosocial adaptation to amputation: the role of sociodemographic variables, disability-related factors and coping strategies.

This study examined the roles of sociodemographic variables, disability-related factors, and coping strategies as predictors of the psychosocial adaptation of 61 persons with amputations. Psychosocial adaptation was conceptualized as a multifaceted outcome criterion and was measured by seven scales from the Reactions to Impairment and Disability Inventory (RIDI) and the Acceptance of Disability (AD) scale. A series of multiple regression analyses indicated that both a set of sociodemographic variables and disability-related factors (age, duration of amputation, type of amputation) and a set of coping strategies (action problem-solving, emotion-focusing, behavioral/problem disengagement, cognitive disengagement) accounted, albeit differentially, for significant portions of the variance in the outcome measures of psychosocial adaptation to amputation. Of the various coping strategies, active problem-solving was negatively associated with the psychosocial reactions of depression and internalized anger (RIDI) but it was positively associated to adjustment (RIDI) and acceptance of disability (AD). Emotion-focusing and cognitive disengagement were positively associated with anxiety, depression, and externalized hostility (RIDI) and negatively associated with acceptance of disability (AD). Measurement and theoretical implications are briefly outlined.

Psychosocial adaptation to disability and its investigation among persons with multiple sclerosis

This review begins with a general discussion of the concept of psychosocial adaptation to disability, reaction phases that the adaptation process is thought to comprise, instruments to measure adaptation and the basic research questions that need to be addressed to construct a theoretical model for the process. The research literature concerning psychosocial adaptation to disability among persons with multiple sclerosis is reviewed as an illustration. Research problems identified in this review are then listed, with suggestions for future research.

Coping Strategies as Predictors and Mediators of Disability-Related Variables and Psychosocial Adaptation: An Exploratory Investigation

This study examined the relationships among four predictors (functional limitations, perceived visibility of condition, and two disability-associated affective responses— anxiety and depression), coping strategies, and two outcome measures of psychosocial adaptation to disability (disability-specific psychosocial adjustment and life satisfaction). Based on responses from 121 university students with disabilities, two models (additive and mediational) were tested to investigate the contribution of coping strategies to psychosocial adaptation to disability. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that coping strategies add significantly to the variance in both outcome measures after controlling for the contribution of disability-related factors. The role of coping strategies as mediators between the set of predictor and outcome variables was mostly unsupported in this sample, however. Reasons for the latter finding are briefly outlined, along with the implications for rehabilitation research and practice.

Psychosocial Adaptation to Epilepsy: The Role of Coping Strategies

This article begins by reviewing the literature on the concept of psychosocial adaptation to impairment among persons with epilepsy. Particular attention is devoted to those roots reasoned to lie at the base of psychosocial problems manifested by people with epilepsy. The research literature on coping with epilepsy is then reviewed in two areas: (a) general coping styles and their relationship to psychosocial adaptation, and (b) specific coping strategies and their association with adaptation to epilepsy. Next, clinical implications of these findings are briefly outlined. The article concludes with a discussion of research limitations identified in the conceptualization and measurement of coping, followed by suggestions for future research on coping and adaptation to epilepsy.

Continuing Professional Education among Educators: Predictors of Participation in Learning Activities

The intent of this study was to identify those skills and characteristics that successfully predict involvement in professional development among educators. Two hundred and fifty-six professionally-defined educators were administered the Characteristics of Lifelong Learners in the Professions (CLLP) Scale. Following principal component analysis of the scale items, the four extracted factors and a set of sociodemographic variables were subjected to multiple regression analysis to predict the amount of time spent by the respondents in learning activities during the previous year. Two lifelong learning factors (Self-Motivated Learning and External Motivation) and one sociodemographic variable (Education Level) predicted one-sixth of the variance devoted by respondents to professional learning activities. Results of this study are compared to previous research findings focusing on lifelong learning among two other groups of professionals, namely, human service providers and pharmacists.

Coping with chronic illness and disability

Coping with chronic illness and disability : , Coping with chronic illness and disability : , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز