A one-year follow-up study on psychosocial adaptation of college students with disabilities

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Martz, Erin

Affiliations: Rehabilitation Counseling Program, Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, 4B Hill Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211-2130, USA. Tel.: +1 573 884 2419; Fax: +1 573 884 5989; E-mail: erinmartz@hotmail.com

Abstract: Of the 97 students with disabilities who completed a questionnaire on adaptation to disability, 39 responded to the same survey one year later. The two purposes of this follow-up study were to examine whether individuals' adaptation scores had significantly changed during the year and whether the results found by Livneh et al. [17] could be replicated. Two distinct statistical analyses were run. The results of a multivariate repeated-measures analysis indicated that there was a not a significant difference in adaptation scores after one year. In a post-hoc repeated-measures analysis, time since injury (TSI) was added as a between-group factor, which resulted in a significant difference in adaptation scores according to TSI but no interaction with time of assessment (the within-group factor). The results of the second analysis, which involved a multiple regression analysis on adaptation, were similar to Livneh et al.'s [17] study in several ways. The implications of this one-year follow-up study were articulated.

Keywords: disability, student, visibility, denial

Journal: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 1-7, 2004