Strengthening disability identity through social networks Katharine Hayward, PhD, MPH Tarjan Center at UCLA 139 th 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 Stigma and deviance Social networks Labeling

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%)

Disability Characteristics of the Sample A little more than half of the participants had a physical disability or a learning disability/ADD

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 0.92 Assess social support from 3 sources  Family  Significant other  Friends

Disability Identity Scale (α=.70) Proud to be person with a disability Part of disability community Wouldn’t want to be cured Uncomfortable 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 =b 0 + b 1 sex + b 2 ageonset+ b 3 severity + b 4 knowdisability + b 5 amountcontact+b 6 socialsupport + b 7 numberfriends 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 Variableb (Std. error) β Gender Female-0.67 (0.24)**-0.24 Frequent contact 0.49 (0.24)* 0.19 No. of known with disability (log) 0.33 (0.12)** 0.26 No. of close friends 0.09 (0.03)* 0.30 Constant 2.46 (0.28)*** F11.60 R Adj R *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.