Abstract
Students’ attitudes toward peers with disabilities are crucial for the social inclusion of the latter. Therefore, understanding such attitudes can help improve the social inclusion of students with disabilities. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Chedoke–McMaster Attitudes toward Children with Handicaps scale. Data were collected from 415 elementary school students, including 232 (56%) girls and 183 (44%) boys, in grades three to six in Saudi Arabia. The psychometric properties of the scale were examined using the Rasch analysis procedures. The results did not support the unidimensionality of the 36-item scale. Dividing items based on whether they are negatively or positively phrased improved the scale fit. Both the 15-item (positive phrasing) and the 18-item (negative phrasing) scales were supported by the Rasch analysis as unidimensional scales.
Highlights
In recent years, inclusive education practices around the world have started to develop
We first examined the 36-item Chedoke–McMaster Attitudes towards Children with Handicaps (CATCH)-AR scale to determine its fit to the Rasch model
Based on our study findings, we recommend that researchers using the Arabic-translated CATCH-AR scale use the 15item or 18-item version of the scale to measure children’s attitudes toward peers with disabilities
Summary
Inclusive education practices around the world have started to develop. This shift can help to increase the opportunities of children with disabilities to experience more contact with their peers without disabilities. Improving inclusive practices to increase peer contact is not always a straightforward process, and there is no guarantee that children with disabilities will have successful social experiences (Rosenbaum et al, 1986; Bossaert and Petry, 2013). One of the main ingredients for successful peer inclusion is the attitudes of children toward their peers with disabilities (McDougall et al, 2004). Gaining a better understanding of attitudes toward people with disabilities could be informative in predicting behavior toward this population (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980; Kraus, 1995)
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