Exercise as stigma management for individuals with onset-controllable and onset-uncontrollable spinal cord injury

Studies have suggested that individuals with physical disabilities are often stigmatized and are perceived to possess less favorable physical and psychological characteristics than individuals without disability.

To investigate whether able-bodied adults' perceptions of people with different causes of spinal cord injury (SCI) are influenced by physical activity status information.

Each participant (N = 198) read all five vignettes describing individuals with SCI who had varying levels of physical activity participation and cause of injury information (e.g., onset-uncontrollable [hit by impaired driver] and onset-controllable [caused by impaired driving]). After reading each vignette, participants completed a 12-item Warmth and Competence Questionnaire to evaluate each target. One-way repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to examine the within-subjects differences.

Physically active individuals with onset-uncontrollable SCI were rated most favorably on warmth and competence. Physically active individuals with onset-controllable SCI also were rated more favorably on warmth and competence than physically inactive targets with onset-controllable SCI.

A physically active lifestyle may be beneficial in managing the stigma experienced by individuals with both onset-controllable and onset-uncontrollable SCI.