Decades of research have examined factors involved in complex, and sometimes stressful, interpersonal interactions between individuals with and without disabilities. The present study applies structural equation modeling to test an integrative model of individual and situational factors affecting encounters between able-bodied college students and their peers with mobility impairments. A vignette design was employed that involved input from focus groups of college students with mobility impairments. Data was collected from 360 able-bodied students at a Mid-Western university. Results provided support for a structural model that included previous contact with disability, global disability attitudes, and negative affect in predicting behavioral intentions to avoid. Affective arousal emerged as a strong predictor of behavioral intentions to avoid peers with disabilities. Global disability attitudes were fairly strongly predictive of negative affect and weakly predictive of behavioral avoidance. Secondary analyses explored whether emotion regulation strategies would moderate the effect of negative affect on behavioral intentions to avoid future encounters with a peer in a wheelchair. Reappraisal and suppression emerged as weak but statistically significant predictors of behavioral avoidance. Further, results indicated modest support for the hypothesis that reappraisal can lower the likelihood that an able-bodied individual who experiences affective arousal will choose to avoid further interactions. Implications for research, clinical practice, and campus interventions are considered.
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Individual and Situational Factors Associated With Social Barriers for Persons With Mobility Impairment
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