The importance of psychological resources to individuals’ adjustment to mobility disability

Abstract

Although disability is widely acknowledged to involve physical, social and psychological consequences, few studies have studied the potential of psychological resources to improve adjustment to disability outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of psychological resources on adjustment to disability for mobility impaired individuals. Psychological resources were evaluated using General self-efficacy scale, MOS Social Support Survey and Brief-COPE questionnaire (measuring adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies). Adjustment of Disability scale – Revised was also used in the study. The study sample consisted 321 mobility impaired individuals (132 men and 189 women), aged between 18 and 80. Participants possessing greater psychological resources reported higher scores of adjustment to disability compared to participants with fewer resources. Regression analysis identified general self-efficacy, perceived social support and maladaptive coping strategies as main significant predictors of adjustment to disability. General self-efficacy, perceived social support and coping strategies were significantly related to individual’s adjustment to disability and seem to be stronger predictors of adjustment than sociodemographic or disability-related variables. Empowering of psychological resources should be an important aspect of rehabilitation process for people with mobility disabilities.