Orientations Toward Disability: Differences over the lifecourse

Functional limitation and depressive symptomatology: Considering perceived stigma and discrimination within a stress and coping framework.

“…Alternately, in the context of lower perceived stigma and experiences of major and day-to-day discrimination, the influence of functional limitation on one’s sense of mastery is less pronounced. These findings, taken together, extend research indicating that greater functional limitation is linked with more frequent discriminatory encounters and feelings of stigmatization (Charmaz, 2002; Darling & Heckert, 2010; Earnshaw & Quinn, 2012), demonstrating that this ‘double hit’ has psychological consequences. One of the implications of this set of findings is that the mental health effects of functional limitation are amplified in circumstances in which they are most difficult to cope with – namely, in the context of greater discrimination and perceived stigma.…”

Redefining Disability, Re-imagining the Self: Disability Identification Predicts Self-esteem and Strategic Responses to Stigma

“…Similarly, Hahn and Belt (2004) found that a personal affirmation of disability was highest among those who had been living with disability from an early age compared to those with late-onset conditions. Extending those results, Darling and Heckert (2010b) found that a positive disability identity was most likely among younger adults and those who had experienced lifelong disabilities. Given the general evidence across a variety of social contexts that group identification is linked to social action and well-being for stigmatized persons (Branscombe et al, 2012), a test of whether disability identity predicts strategy use and self-esteem even when controlling for proportion of lifetime with a disability seems warranted, but we have not found this tested in the literature.…”

“…While there is some evidence in the rehabilitation and disability studies literatures for cross-disability group identification (e.g., Darling & Heckert, 2010b), studies have yet to examine how variations in disability as a group identity relate to the use of individualistic versus collective strategies. The relationship between strategy use and self-esteem also remains a gap in the empirical disability literature.…”

Understanding the influence of stigma and discrimination for the functional limitation severity – psychological distress relationship: A stress and coping perspective

“…Several qualitative studies, for instance, describe how the severity of one’s limitation can change the nature of social interactions, resulting in greater feelings of devaluation and lower well-being among those with more serious limitations (Cahill & Eggleston, 1995; Karp, 1999). Prior work also indicates that perceived stigma and discriminatory experiences are linked empirically (Darling & Heckert, 2010; Stuber et al, 2008), and several stigma researchers contend that perceived stigma is predicated on one’s awareness of prejudice and experiences of discrimination (e.g., Corrigan & Rao, 2012; Sirey et al, 2001). For this reason, perceived stigma and discrimination are included as correlated predictors in the present study.…”