A Call to Action for Disability and Rehabilitation research using a DisCrit and Disability Justice framework

Purpose: Disability and ableism exist within a societal context that does not ignore the many facets of a person’s identity, however often our disability research does not recognize how experiences vary based on the intersecting identities individuals hold. This article utilizes Intersectionality, Dis/ability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit), and Disability Justice to identify ways for rehabilitation researchers to adapt their research practices for maximum inclusivity and representation. Materials and Methods: Using these three frameworks, we have developed a call to action including recommendations for rehabilitation researchers to consider as they design and implement research projects. Results: Incorporating these frameworks provides an opportunity to reimagine current research practices Conclusions: An accessible approach can help researchers better understand and report on the nuances of intersecting identities on the lives of disabled people

A Feminist, Biopsychosocial Subjective Well-Being Framework for Women With Fibromyalgia

Objective: To explore the biopsychosocial predictors of subjective well-being (SWB) in women with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) through a framework informed by feminist disability theory. Method: Two hundred twenty-nine women with FMS completed an online survey measuring FMS severity, physician–patient working alliance, meaningful role-functioning, illness centrality, and SWB. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the relationships among the constructs and their statistical contributions to SWB. Several open-ended prompts were used to inform the quantitative results. Results: The results indicated a good fit between the data and the respecified model. All variables significantly contributed to the overall model. FMS severity, meaningful role-functioning, and illness centrality accounted for 79% of the variance in SWB, with the indirect effect of physician–patient working alliance. Conclusion: The present study provided strong support for a biopsychosocial framework encompassing the medical environment, FMS severity, illness centrality, and meaningful role-functioning to predict SWB in women with FMS. As a feminist framework, the primary research model needs further refinement but still has significant implications for conceptualization, treatment, and future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved

Preliminary Validation of a Short-Form Version of the Attachment Style Questionnaire for Use in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Research and Practice

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a short-form version of the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) in people with disabilities. The construction sample consisted of 108 participants recruited from spinal cord injury (SCI) advocacy organizations. The cross-validation sample comprised 140 individuals with traumatic injuries recruited from a rehabilitation hospital. Measures administered were the ASQ, Trait Hope Scale, Sense of Coherence Scale, and Satisfaction With Life Scale. Results showed that the three subscales of secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment from the short-form ASQ had high correlations with the three subscales from the long-form ASQ. The reliability of the subscales for the short-form ASQ was adequate and similar to the long-form ASQ. Both the short- and long-form ASQ subscales were found to correlate with hope, sense of coherence, and subjective well-being in the expected theoretical directions. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported the three-factor measurement structure of the short-form ASQ. This study provides evidence to support the psychometric properties of the abbreviated ASQ in people with disabilities. The short-form version of the ASQ is a brief, reliable, and psychometrically sound measure of attachment that can be used in clinical rehabilitation counseling research and practice

Preliminary Validation of a Short-Form Version of the Attachment Style Questionnaire for Use in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Research and Practice

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a short-form version of the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) in people with disabilities. The construction sample consisted of 108 participants recruited from spinal cord injury (SCI) advocacy organizations. The cross-validation sample comprised 140 individuals with traumatic injuries recruited from a rehabilitation hospital. Measures administered were the ASQ, Trait Hope Scale, Sense of Coherence Scale, and Satisfaction With Life Scale. Results showed that the three subscales of secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment from the short-form ASQ had high correlations with the three subscales from the long-form ASQ. The reliability of the subscales for the short-form ASQ was adequate and similar to the long-form ASQ. Both the short- and long-form ASQ subscales were found to correlate with hope, sense of coherence, and subjective well-being in the expected theoretical directions. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported the three-factor measurement structure of the short-form ASQ. This study provides evidence to support the psychometric properties of the abbreviated ASQ in people with disabilities. The short-form version of the ASQ is a brief, reliable, and psychometrically sound measure of attachment that can be used in clinical rehabilitation counseling research and practice

Core Self-Evaluations as Personal Factors in the World Health Organization\u27s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Model: An Application in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury

Purpose: To evaluate Chan, Gelman, Ditchman, Kim, and Chiu’s (2009) revised World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model using core self-evaluations (CSE) to account for Personal Factors in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Method: One hundred eighty-seven adults with SCI were recruited to take an online survey including measurement scales representing each component of the revised ICF model: Functioning, Activities, Participation, Environmental Factors, Personal Factors, and Quality Of Life. Path analysis was used to evaluate the hypothesized relationships among the ICF components. Results: A respecified path model revealed a strong model-to-data fit, χ2(3, N = 187) = 6.84; p = .08; goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = .99; comparative fit index (CFI) = .99; and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .08. Taking into account all of the ICF components, CSE had the strongest direct effect on life satisfaction (β = .40, p \u3c .01). Conclusion: This study supports CSE as a significant and direct predictor of life satisfaction in persons with SCI, indicating that CSE may be an important target for intervention in a biopsychosocial approach toward SCI rehabilitation. These findings provide a basis for future research to investigate the role of CSE in quality of life among people with varying health conditions

Psychometric Validation of the Meaningful Role Functioning Questionnaire in a Sample of 229 Women With Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Background: Participation is one of the most important interdisciplinary outcome variables in biopsychosocial conceptions of health and disability. While the literature surrounding social and community participation in persons with disabilities indicates that participation is a highly subjective construct, there are few known psychometrically validated instruments designed to measure participation in a way that captures the subjective nature of the concept. The present study aimed to develop and test a measure of participation in a way that prioritizes roles that are subjectively meaningful to the individual. Objective: To establish the psychometric properties of the Meaningful Role Functioning Questionnaire (MRFQ) a new life role participation scale intended to measure life role functioning in a way that weighs life roles that are more important to the individual more heavily than those that are less important to the individual. Methods: 229 women with fibromyalgia took an online survey measuring the following biopsychosocial constructs: meaningful role functioning, participation in society, perceived social support, core self-evaluations, fibromyalgia severity, and life satisfaction. Findings: The 4-week test-retest reliability coefficient for the MRFQ was .74, indicating acceptable reliability for this measure of life role functioning. The MRFQ was significantly correlated in the expected directions with several external correlates, establishing its construct validity. Conclusions: The MRFQ is a reliable and valid subjective measure of life role functioning in women with fibromyalgia. Future research should seek to validate the scale in a wider range of disability populations and the general public

Vocational Rehabilitation Services for African-American Women With HIV/AIDS: An Examination of Acceptance Rates and Employment Outcomes

BACKGROUND: Previous research identifies employment as a social determinant of health for persons with HIV/AIDS, specifically African American women. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the eligibility/acceptance and competitive employment rates of African American women diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in comparison to the general population of persons with disabilities in the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) system and (2) to determine the relationship between (a) demographic variables (i.e., age, education level at the time of application for VR services, and receipt of cash benefit) and VR services received (e.g., job placement) and (b) employment outcomes for this population. METHODS: Chi square analysis was used to determine if there was a significant difference in acceptance/eligibility rate between the target population of African American women with HIV/AIDS and the general disability population. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between demographic variables and vocational rehabilitation services received on employment outcomes for the target population. RESULTS: Results indicate that the African American women with HIV/AIDS were found ineligible for services at a lower rate, 14%, than the general population of persons with disabilities served, 17%. However, even though they are more likely to be accepted for services, the competitive employment outcomes are lower than the general population of persons with disabilities. Results also indicate that the hypothesized demographic and VR service-related predictor variables were significantly related to competitive employment outcomes. Specifically, receipt of cash benefits and diagnostic /treatment VR services had a negative impact on employment outcomes. Factors positively associated with employment outcomes included receipt of job placement and maintenance services. CONCLUSIONS: Vocational rehabilitation counselors, researchers and other key stakeholders must identify the most effective strategies to assist African American women with HIV/AIDS in navigating the VR process from application to closure as competitively employed

Assessing Vocational Outcome Expectancy in Individuals with Serious Mental Illness: a Factor-Analytic Approach

Background: Self-determination theory (SDT) and self-efficacy theory (SET) can be used to conceptualize self-determined motivation to engage in mental health and vocational rehabilitation (VR) services and to predict recovery. To incorporate SDT and SET as a framework for vocational recovery, developing and validating SDT/SET measures in vocational rehabilitation is warranted. Outcome expectancy is an important SDT/SET variable affecting rehabilitation engagement and recovery. Aims: The purpose of this study was to validate the Vocational Outcome Expectancy Scale (VOES) for use within the SDT/SET vocational recovery framework. Methods: One hundred and twenty-four individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) participated in this study. Measurement structure of the VOES was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: Both EFA and CFA results supported a two-factor structure: (a) positive outcome expectancy, and (b) negative outcome expectancy. The internal consistency reliability coefficients for both factors were acceptable. In addition, positive outcome expectancy correlated stronger than negative outcome expectancy with other SDT/SET constructs in the expected directions. Conclusions: The VOES is a brief, reliable and valid instrument for assessing vocational outcome expectancy in individuals with SMI that can be integrated into SDT/SET as a vocational rehabilitation engagement and recovery model in psychiatric rehabilitation