Validation of the multiple disability multidimensional attitudes scale toward persons with disabilities

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Disability Studies
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Understanding attitudes toward individuals with disabilities is crucial for promoting inclusion.
• Existing scales may not adequately capture nuances across different disability types.
• The Multidimensional Attitudes Scale (MAS) is a foundational tool for attitude assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To psychometrically evaluate the Multiple Disability Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (MD-MAS).
• To assess attitudes towards individuals with anxiety disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), blindness, and schizophrenia.
• To develop and validate a tool for comparing attitudes across diverse disability categories.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 991 participants via Prolific, randomly assigning them to one of four disability-specific surveys.
• Employed confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) using five established MAS models.
• Utilized newly developed vignettes describing interactions with individuals with specific disabilities.

Main Results:

• The German four-factor MAS model demonstrated a good fit for the MD-MAS across all four disability types.
• The four subscales (calm, negative affect, positive cognition, behavioral avoidance) exhibited high internal consistency.
• The factor structure proved consistent across anxiety disorder, ASD, blindness, and schizophrenia.

Conclusions:

• The modified MD-MAS reliably assesses attitudes toward individuals with diverse disabilities.
• The scale's consistent psychometric properties facilitate cross-disability attitude comparisons.
• Findings have significant implications for research and practice in understanding disability-related attitudes.