Purpose/objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing health inequities for people with disabilities (PWD), including disparities in mental health needs and service use. The present study investigated prospective predisposing, enabling, and illness-related correlates of mental health service need and use among PWD during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Method/design: Data were collected online at two time points: October-December 2020 and October-December 2021.
This study examines narrative identity among a large, diverse sample of people with disabilities (PWDs) in the United States during the "second wave" of the Covid-19 pandemic (October-December 2020). The study relied on abductive analyses, combining a purely inductive phase of inquiry followed by two rounds of investigation that filtered inductive insights through three theoretical lenses: social-ecological theory, the theory of narrative identity, and perspectives from the interdisciplinary field of disability studies. The central result was the identification of a particular configuration of self, one that was demonstrably interdependent with both immediate interpersonal contexts and with broader cultural contexts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose/objective: Emerging research has highlighted sources of magnified stress and trauma for people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to others in the general population. However, little research has examined the mental health impact of the pandemic on people with disabilities in relation to disability-related stigma, social isolation, and demographic characteristics. The present study therefore sought to identify predictors of depression and anxiety symptoms among U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the impact of disability simulations on mood, self-ascribed disability stereotypes, attitudes about interacting with disabled individuals, and behavioral intentions for improving campus accessibility.
Design: Experiment 1 evaluated disability-awareness simulations by randomly assigning undergraduates (N = 60) with and without disabilities to stations simulating either dyslexia, hearing or mobility impairments. Experiment 2 extended the field study into the lab where undergraduates (N = 50) with and without disabilities each completed low vision, hearing impairment, and dyslexia simulations.
Despite the fact that disabled people comprise a heterogeneous social group, cross-impairment cultural stereotypes reflect a consistent set of beliefs used to characterize this population as dependent, incompetent, and asexual. Using a free-response methodology, stereotypical beliefs about disabled men (DM) and women (DW) were contrasted against the stereotypes of their non-disabled counterparts illustrating the dimensions considered most diagnostic of each group. Results revealed that both disabled and non-disabled participants expressed consensus about the contents of group stereotypes that exaggerate traditional gender role expectations of the non-disabled while minimizing perceived differences between DM and DW.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF