A self-image profile analysis of spina bifida adolescents in Louisiana

With the growing number of spina bifida children reaching adolescence and adulthood and the national thrust toward "mainstreaming" disabled children, there is increasing need for research on the problems of social and psychological adaptation. The goal of this study was to obtain a normed, psychosocial self-image profile of Louisiana's adolescent spina bifida population. Offer's self-image scale was administered to a sample of 50 Louisiana spina bifida adolescents, ranging from 11 to 21 years of age. The sample's self-image profile was statistically compared to a normal profile, as a group, by age, by gender, and by level of vertebral disability. With the exception of the sexuality dimension, which was significantly below normal, especially in females, 10 of the 11 dimensions were statistically within normal limits. Correlations of self-image subscales with gender, age, and disability revealed several curious and potentially important findings.