Examining the Structure of the Revised Acceptance Disability Scale

Attitudes towards persons with disabilities throughout the early- to mid-20th century often conveyed fear, stigma, and/or pity (Parker & Szymanski, 1998; Rubin & Roessler, 2001). Opportunities for living a full, productive, satisfying life were modest at best, and emphasis was on examining personal characteristics that could be enhanced or altered to improve levels of acceptance toward living with disability. One's ability to reach an effective level of acceptance was interpreted by much of the general public as a personal struggle, whereby psychological and medical support were compulsory interventions. Linkowski (1969, 1971) developed the Acceptance of Disability Scale (ADS) during this timeframe to clarify a person's struggles with acceptance of disability. He created the ADS in an effort to reflect the value change process associated with acceptance of loss theory (Dembo, Leviton, & Wright, 1956; Wright, 1983). The value change process as defined by Wright (1983) pertains to four distinct shifts toward acceptance of loss. These shifts include: Enlargement of Scope of Values, whereby a person is able to see values other than those that conflict with having a disability; Subordination of Physique, whereby a person is able to de-emphasize physical ability and appearance; Containment of Disability Effects, whereby an individual does not spread the handicap beyond actual physical impairment; and Transformation from Comparative Values to Asset Values, whereby a person does not compare him/herself to others, but is able to recognize personal strengths and abilities. Linkowski's ADS was an attempt to parallel these four shifts with a theory of acceptance of disability. Contrast this with current trends since the latter 20th century and one may see improvement in the quality of life for people with disabilities. Sociopolitical definitions of disability (Hahn, 1999), the independent living movement, improved media and social messages, observation and consideration of situational and environmental barriers, passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 have all transpired to influence how a per son may accept living with a disability. Bogdan and Taylor's (1993) acceptance of sociology, which posits a person does not have to be determined by personal characteristics, has perhaps become pervasive enough to challenge persons with disabilities to refuse exclusion from mainstream culture. Despite improvements, many challenges remain for people with disabilities, and individually or collectively, efforts continue in order to generate dignity and worth from and within social institutions. To more appropriately assist one's assessment of self-approval in contemporary society, it appeared timely to modernize the Acceptance of Disability Scale (ADS). Another trend, evaluation from researchers reporting concerns with the psychometric properties and unidimensionality of the ADS, guided us to respond with a new analysis of the ADS. Specifically, Keany and Glueckauf (1999) examined the instrument and constructively concluded that the ADS did not provide evidence of a systematic measure of the value change process. Moreover, Keany and Glueckauf justly asserted that sample size from the 1971 ADS precluded the use of factor analysis. Overall, it was likely that the ADS did not have adequate internal consistency or evidence of validity. Certainly, the absence of these psychometric properties calls into question the use of the ADS to measure value changes as part of acceptance of loss, yet the instrument readily shows evidence of being an effective measure of acceptance of disability (Bolton, 2001; Keany & Glueckauf, 1999; Livneh & Antonak, 1997). The success of the ADS becomes apparent when recognizing its national and international use in numerous research studies. Purpose of the Study In response to shifts in sociopolitical culture and the opinions of professional colleagues who desire a more sophisticated instrument with which to pursue rigorous research, the purpose of this study was to perform an exploratory analysis that supported a revised Acceptance of Disability Scale (ADS-R). …