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

Social and Psychological Factors Affecting Coping with and Adjusting to Disability

This chapter provides an overview of the social and psychological factors contributing to coping with and adjusting to disability by summarizing models; clinical implications, evidence-based practice, and measurement issues; and empirical research related to the process of coping with and adjustment to disability. While the models are useful for understanding a portion of the experience of people with disabilities and their coping and adjustment process, these reactions are not universal and not always experienced in an orderly sequence. Both coping and adaptation are multidimensional, complex processes affected by many factors and influenced by the person with the disability, the stress related to the disability, and a myriad of contextual factors. The ultimate goals of all people with disabilities are good psychosocial outcomes and a high quality of life. Since coping can be a mediator, coping skills are important for professionals working with individuals with disabilities to understand, study, and communicate to clients and their families. Future studies, as well as clinical work, would do well to focus efforts on the many aspects of the interaction between the person and the environment that make up a person\u27s life space and affect their coping with, adjustment to, and acceptance of disability

Sexual Health Education and Life Satisfaction for People With Congenital Neurological Disabilities

People with disabilities are sexual beings, yet there is little research on sexuality in this population. The present study explored the impact of sex education for people with congenital neurological disabilities, largely, spina bifida and cerebral palsy, on sexual self-concept and life satisfaction. This study included 104 adults with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and other congenital neurological disabilities. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between demographic variables, sexual health education variables, and outcome variables (sexual self-concept and life satisfaction). Serial mediation analysis was conducted to examine the mediating relationship of sexual self-concept variables (sexual anxiety and sexual self-esteem) between social support and life satisfaction. Results indicated that sexual self-concept was significantly predicted by relationship status, disability impact, and satisfaction with sex education. Life satisfaction was significantly predicted by relationship status, social support, disability impact, and sexual self-concept. Sexual anxiety and sexual self-esteem formed a partial serial mediating relationship between social support and life satisfaction. The findings expand upon existing literature on sex education for people with disabilities, reinforcing the notion that satisfactory sex education and strong social support positively impact the life satisfaction of individuals with spina bifida and cerebral palsy. Implications for rehabilitation research and practice are discussed

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 properties of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule in people with multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) 12-item version is a generic self-report instrument measuring perceived individual functioning and disability. Studies suggest that the WHODAS 2.0 12-item version may exhibit a varying factor structure and psychometric properties depending upon the disability group studied. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the measurement structure and psychometric properties of the WHODAS 2.0 12-item version in a community sample of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Participants included 256 individuals with MS. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and concurrent validity analysis were used to psychometrically validate the measure. RESULTS: Results of the EFA suggest that the WHODAS 2.0 12-item version exhibits a two-factor structure in persons with MS (self-care functioning and social and cognitive functioning). These results were confirmed with the CFA (with modifications). Concurrent validity analysis revealed that the factors were significantly associated with relevant psychosocial variables in the expected directions. CONCLUSIONS: The WHODAS 2.0 12-item version may provide valuable information for vocational rehabilitation counselors to better support people with MS as they work toward their psychosocial and employment goals

Psychometric Validation of the Taiwanese Version of the Job Satisfaction of Persons with Disabilities Scale in a Sample of Individuals with Poliomyelitis

Objective: To evaluate the measurement structure of the Taiwanese Version of the Job Satisfaction of Persons with Disabilities Scale (JSPDS). Design: A quantitative descriptive research design using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Participants: One hundred and thirty-two gainfully employed individuals from Taiwan with poliomyelitis participated in this study. Results: EFA result indicated a three-factor structure accounting for 54.1 per cent of the total variance. The internal consistency reliability coefficients for the integrated work environment, job quality, and alienation factors were 0.91, 0.77, and 0.59, respectively. Only the integrated work environment and job quality factors showed positive correlations with life satisfaction. People with higher educational attainment also reported higher levels of job satisfaction than people with lower educational attainment. Conclusion: The three-factor measurement structure of the JSPDS appears to be parsimonious, psychologically meaningful, and interpretable, and can be used to improve the comprehensiveness of vocational rehabilitation outcome evaluation