Disability Affirmation and Acceptance Predict Hope Among Adults With Physical Disabilities.

Purpose/Objective: Positive disability identity has been proposed as a protective factor against disability-related stressors. Personal disability identity (PDI) refers to positive self-concept as a person with a disability. The most widely used measure of PDI captures disability affirmation and disability acceptance (Hahn & Belt, 2004). The current study examined the association between PDI (i.e., acceptance and affirmation) and hope (i.e., pathways and agency). Hope is defined as a process of thinking about one's goals, including motivation to pursue goals (agency) and ways to achieve goals (pathways; Snyder et al., 1991). Method: One hundred eighty-six adults with physical disabilities completed an online cross-sectional questionnaire measuring PDI, hope, personal factors, and impairment-related factors. Results: Findings from multiple linear regression indicated that agency was predicted by both disability acceptance (p <.001) and disability affirmation (p <.001), after accounting for personal and impairment factors. Presence of multiple disabilities was also found to be negatively associated with agency (p =.001). Pathways was predicted by disability acceptance (p <.001) but not disability affirmation (p =.17), after accounting for personal and impairment factors. The regression model on agency explained 50% of the variance in agency scores, a moderate effect; the model on pathways explained 36% of the variance in pathways scores, a moderate effect. Internal consistency of all instruments was supported and confirmatory factor analyses supported the use of the PDI subscales. Conclusions/Implications: By introducing hope as a correlate of disability acceptance and disability affirmation, this study provides support for the role of disability identity in promoting well-being (e.g., agency and pathways) among adults with physical disabilities. Impact and Implications: This study is the first to examine the association between personal disability identity and hope in adults with physical disabilities. Contributing to the literature on the role of positive disability identity in promoting well-being among people with disabilities, findings indicated that hope is positively associated with disability affirmation and disability acceptance. Evidence for the structural validity and internal consistency of Hahn and Belt's (2004) personal disability identity subscales supported their continued use in disability identity research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rehabilitation Psychology is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)