Purpose/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.S. adults with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.Research Methods/Designs: Data were collected online between October and December 2020. U.S. adults with disabilities (n = 441) completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, psychosocial processes, and a range of demographic and disability characteristics.Results: In our sample, 61.0% and 50.0% of participants met criteria for a probable diagnosis of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, respectively. Participants also experienced significantly higher levels of disability-related stigma and social isolation compared to pre-pandemic norms. Hierarchical regression analyses identified higher social isolation, presence of chronic pain, younger age, higher disability-related stigma, and higher worries about contracting COVID-19 as significant predictors of both depression and anxiety symptoms. Conclusion/implications:This study highlights important demographic and psychosocial predictors of mental health risks for people with disabilities in the context of COVID-19.Findings further underscore the need to attend to those at elevated risk within the disability community as rehabilitation professionals, disability organizations, and policymakers work to support people with disabilities in post-pandemic recovery and create a more equitable response to ongoing and future public health crises.

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Persons living with mental health challenges are at increased risk of stigma, social isolation, and social exclusion. Due to its emphasis on member participation and community, the clubhouse model of mental health may help address these issues. In this study, we examined experiences of social belonging and of various social determinants of mental health among members attending a psychosocial clubhouse. Twelve members of a large psychosocial clubhouse were interviewed regarding their experiences of community life and belonging. Phenomenological qualitative methods were utilized to examine the meaning and structure of these experiences. Members overwhelmingly experienced the clubhouse as a central site of belonging ("an oasis"), but members also recounted devastating portraits of life in the outside world ("a desert"). This world presented fundamental restrictions on their movement and speech and held deeply sedimented norms pertaining to who is considered valuable, productive, and even human, which they were reminded of through an endless tyranny of questions ("what do you do," "where do you live," etc.). Life in the clubhouse presented an alternative world for members to experience nourishment, dignity, reaffirmed personhood, and a sense of beauty. And yet, the desert outside remained. Implications of these findings for clubhouses, mental health practice, and sociopolitical and community engagement are discussed, including the need to address profound deprivations and power imbalances within the wider world, beyond the walls of humane spaces such as these. Public Policy Relevance StatementMembers who attended a psychosocial clubhouse for mental health were able to experience nourishment, dignity, reaffirmed personhood, and a sense of beauty, but oppressive meanings and structures in the wider world remained. These findings suggest the need for clubhouse and broader mental health policy to focus greater attention on advocacy, community engagement, and sociopolitical issues, including societal restrictions on members' movement and speech, and the constant scrutiny and questioning they endure.

This study examines narrative identity among a large, diverse (American) sample of people with disabilities (PWDs) 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. This interdependent self was interpreted in both positive and negative ways by PWDs. These findings invite future inquiry into commonplace conceptualizations of an independent self at the center of personality research.

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. U.S. adults with disabilities completed self-report measures on demographic and disability characteristics, pandemic-related stressors (e.g., worries about COVID-19), depression, anxiety, barriers to service use, and perceived mental health needs and service use. Two logistic regressions were used to examine the effect of predisposing, enabling, psychosocial barriers, and illness-related factors on perceived mental health service need and service use. Results: Perceptions of mental health service needs were significantly predicted by gender (female-identified, transgender and gender diverse [TGD]), younger age, increased depressive symptoms, and presence of a prepandemic mental health condition. Among those who reported a perceived need, mental health service use was predicted by gender (female-identified and TGD), greater income, lower frequency of anticipated provider disability bias, and presence of a prepandemic mental health condition. Conclusions/Implications: This study provides vital descriptive data on the pattern of mental health service utilization among PWD during the COVID-19 pandemic, a uniquely disruptive, challenging time. Findings further underscore the necessity of providing disability competency training and bias reduction interventions to mental health professionals, as anticipated provider disability bias was a key factor in nonservice use of PWD.