Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Research Articles

Caring for people with intellectual disabilities: Insights from a cross-sectional study among nursing students

BackgroundCaring for people with intellectual disabilities poses substantial challenges. Nursing students' emotions, thoughts, and behaviors during their education in the context of people with intellectual disabilities, remain relatively unexplored. ObjectivesTo examine nursing students' emotions, thoughts, competence, and expected professional behaviors in care provision for people with intellectual disabilities, as well as to identify factors associated with their expected professional behaviors with this population. DesignA cross-sectional study using a closed self-report questionnaire and one open-ended question. SettingThe largest academic nursing department in Israel. ParticipantsOf 245 sophomore nursing students, 177 agreed to participate (71.4 % response rate). MethodsThe study measured feelings, thoughts, competence, and expected professional behaviors in care provision for people with intellectual disabilities based on the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale. One open-ended question addressed how students believe their competence in caring for people with intellectual disabilities could be improved during their nursing studies. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the contribution of emotions, thoughts, and competence to explaining expected behaviors in care provision. The significance of the model and the R2 were calculated. The open-ended question was analyzed by the constant comparative method. ResultsNegative emotions and thoughts (β = −0.37, 95 % CI −0.47; −0.15 and β = −0.33, 95 % CI −0.39; −0.13, respectively), along with positive emotions (β = 0.25, 95 % CI 0.07;0.33), showed significant associations with expected professional behaviors. Qualitative analysis revealed three key themes: communication concern, knowledge gap, and curiosity. The findings of the open-ended question corroborate the quantitative findings. ConclusionIt is important to realize that in order to develop quality professional skills for caring for people with intellectual disability, nursing educators must adopt a deep discussion of negative emotions and thoughts with their students regarding people with intellectual disabilities. Ignoring these negative emotions and thoughts can exacerbate the neglect of people with intellectual disabilities' health needs.

Multidimensional attitudes scale toward persons with disabilities: factor and exploratory analysis for a Ukrainian version (MAS-UA)

Background: Currently, a topical area of research is the multidimensional approach to both reliable tools and professional interventions aimed at improving the attitudes of Ukrainian society toward people with disabilities in the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine. The aim of the study: The purpose of this study was to study the factor structure of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) questionnaire on a sample of Ukrainian students to create an adaptation of the original version (MAS-UA). Material and Methods: The main authors of the questionnaire gave their consent for the adaptation. The Ukrainian version of the MAS was developed using the method of back translation from the original language. The proposed multi-factor structure of the MAS-UA was tested in an anonymous online study of 1619 Ukrainian students.Results: The factor analysis and a parallel exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 5-factor structure for the MAS-UA (the classic domains – cognitive, affective, and behavioral – and two additional domains, negative effects and items concentrated in the factors “Calm” and “Desire to communicate”). These five factors yielded 62.6% of the total variance score. Conclusions: The MAS-UA was developed and presented as a reliable instrument for examining attitudes toward people with physical disabilities. The instrument can be used for the initial assessment when developing prevention and educational programs in the field of social policy, as well as to evaluate their effectiveness. Studies using the adapted version of the scale (MAS-UA) will allow the comparison of results from other countries where other language versions are used.

Academic staff members’ engagement in accessible higher education for students with disabilities

ABSTRACT Academic staff members (academics) are central social agents in providing accessible higher education (AHE) to students with disabilities (SWD). The literature demonstrates gaps between academics’ positive attitudes and self-efficacy to apply AHE. This study explores factors explaining their willingness and self-efficacy to provide AHE through the lens of organizational theories on work engagement. The 210 academics recruited from 10 universities and colleges completed four questionnaires: personal and organizational characteristics, engagement in AHE, Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities, and workload related to AHE. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that gender, contact with SWD, familiarity with support centers, training, and cognitive attitudes toward people with disabilities explained 31% of the participants’ self-efficacy. Gender, workload, and cognitive attitudes toward people with disabilities explained 28% of their willingness to provide AHE. The gender difference regarding female academics’ higher commitment to AHE than male academics is one of the study’s important findings. This research revealed the institutions’ responsibility to develop resources for academics to implement AHE, encourage training that addresses gender differences, strengthen support centers, and acknowledge the benefits of and commitment to diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

Problematic Internet use and attitudes towards persons with disabilities – cross-sectional research among Polish students

BackgroundProblematic Internet use (PIU) can have detrimental effects on physical, emotional, psychological, and social functioning. Besides well-described PIU correlations in psychological domains such as personality traits, or life satisfaction, and self-assessment, the social aspect of PIU risk also appeared to be important. This study aimed to investigate the association between PIU and attitudes towards persons with disabilities.MethodsA total of 595 Polish students aged 18–29 participated in this research by completing the Internet Addiction Test, Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Towards Persons With Disabilities, and personal information form.ResultsThe findings revealed that 30.6% of the respondents were at high risk for PIU. Moreover, heightened levels of PIU were more prevalent among male participants and students in technical fields of study than in those in medical and social fields of study. Increased PIU was also associated with more negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities in general and in the domains of emotions and behaviours. Additionally, prior personal contact with individuals with disabilities was related to both PIU rates and attitudes towards persons with disabilities in the domain of emotions and beliefs.ConclusionsThis study highlights the prevalence of PIU among Polish students and emphasizes the need for preventive measures, particularly targeting male students and those in technical fields of study. The results indicate a relationship between PIU and attitudes towards individuals with disabilities. Further research is required to determine the direction of the relationship. It is recommended that educational programs provide opportunities for interaction with individuals with disabilities to promote understanding and acceptance.

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Özel Gereksinimli Akranlarına İlişkin Tutumları: Karma Desen İncelemesi

This study aimed to determine the level of university students' attitudes toward their peers with special needs and the thoughts in forming these attitudes with metaphors. In this direction, a total of 113 students studying at Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University Faculty of Sport Sciences and different faculties constitute the research study group. Convergent parallel design, one of the mixed research methods, was used in the study. In the study, "Multidimensional Attitude Scale Towards People with Disabilities" was used to obtain quantitative data. The scale consists of 31 items with three sub-dimensions: emotion, thought, and behavior. The qualitative data of the study were collected by completing the sentence "When I see a peer who is a university student with special needs, I am ........., because " In the quantitative findings, it was determined that there was a significant difference in the total attitude score and thought sub-dimension of the scale according to the gender variable. In addition, no significant difference was found in the variables of taking a course on disabilities, having a relative with disabilities, age, grade, and department of education. Considering the qualitative findings, the metaphors produced by university students were categorized under 4 themes. These categories were determined as "Empathy/Support", "Successful/Struggling ", "Accessibility/Opportunities", and "Equality", In conclusion, as a result of both qualitative and quantitative findings, it was found that students had positive attitudes toward their peers with special needs. In this direction, positive attitude scores showed a parallel result with the findings in the metaphor analysis.

Comprehensive intervention for reducing stigma of autism spectrum disorders: Incorporating the experience of simulated autistic perception and social contact.

Stigma of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a crucial factor leading to a lower quality of life for individuals with ASD. This research evaluated an intervention effect for the stigma through an experience of simulated autistic visual perception and video-based social contact. The intervention was conducted as an experiential workshop for the ASD simulator. Participants (N = 217; 156 women, 61 men; a mean age of 41.3) voluntarily attended the workshop. In the workshop, they received a short lecture on autistic perception, a simulated experience using the ASD simulator, a narrative video of individuals with ASD, and a group discussion. They completed the multidimensional attitudes scale, which was developed to measure four attitudes toward ASD: negative affect, calm, cognitions, and behaviors. The attitudes were measured three times: the period of registration with the workshop, during participation in the workshop, and six weeks after the workshop. With regard to the measure during participation in the workshop, attendees responded to the attitudes at the beginning or end of the workshop, to confirm whether attitudes changes were attributed to the effectiveness of the intervention or artifacts resulting from participation in the workshop. A significant reduction was observed in negative affective attitudes at the end of the workshop and persisted even six weeks afterward, even though not observed in calm, cognitive, and behavioral attitudes. Our findings suggest that implementation of our intervention can bring about reduction of the stigma associated with ASD. Further studies with a random sampling method are needed to validate its generalizability and elaborate the components of the intervention.

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

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a Multiple Disability Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (MD-MAS), focusing on four types of disabilities: anxiety disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), blindness, and schizophrenia. We developed new vignettes describing the situation of interacting with an individual with each type of disability. We recruited 991 participants from a crowdsourcing data collection tool (i.e., Prolific). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four online surveys depending on the disability type. Five MAS models were selected from the previous literature to conduct confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). CFA supported the German model of MAS with a four-factor structure (i.e., calm, negative affect, positive cognition, behavioral avoidance) as a good fit for the MD-MAS for four disability types. High internal consistency was found for four subscales across the disability types. This study modified the original MAS to assess attitudes toward persons with different types of disabilities. The adequate reliability and fit of the factor structure of the MD-MAS same across the four disability types allow researchers to compare attitudes based on disability types. This will provide significant implications for research and practice in understanding the nature of different attitudes by disability types. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Attitudes of physical education students towards people with disabilities: a pilot study

The purpose of the study was to identify differences in attitudes of students of universities of physical education towards people with disabilities taking into account emotional, cognitive, and behavioral factors. The study involved 126 students of tourism and recreation, physical education, and physiotherapy at two physical education universities in Poland. Respondents’ attitudes were measured using the Polish version of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS). The mean score on the MAS-PL scale was 98.47 (SD ± 12.15). No statistically significant correlations were found between scores obtained on the behavioral and cognitive subscales. There was a positive correlation between individual subscales (affective, cognitive, behavioral) and between individual subscales and the total score. Sociodemographic factors (sex, age, place of residence, major subject, and year of study) did not significantly differentiate between students’ attitudes towards people with disabilities. Taking into account results of other studies on this topic, it can be concluded that attitudes of physical education students who participated in the study exhibit towards people with disabilities are more negative than those exhibited by students of social sciences and humanities or medical and health sciences majors.

Supplemental Material for Validation of the Multiple Disability Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities

Supplemental Material for Validation of the Multiple Disability Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities

Development of Multi-dimensional Scale to Measure Attitude of Farmers Towards Conservation Agricultural Practices

Attitude exhibits a pivotal role in influencing one’s behaviour towards any psychological object. The present study aimed at developing and validating a multi-dimensional attitude scale on Conservation Agricultural practices based on Maheshwari–Kumar–Jhamtani– Bhaskaran–Dandapani (M-K-J-B-D) method. The steps included item collection, item selection, item analysis, conducting Principal Component Analysis to extract the underlying dimensions and finally calculation of attitude scores. A total of 75 attitudinal items were pooled initially covering various aspects of Conservation Agriculture (CA) and were subjected to item relevancy checking and item analysis. The final scale contained 25 attitudinal statements under eight sub-dimensions. The reliability of the scale was measured by using Cronbach’s Alpha and the reliability coefficient was found to be 0.80 which was satisfactory. The validity was assessed using content validity method by dispensing the finalized scale to 10 subject related experts. This standardized scale can be used by other academicians of related fields with or without modifications to measure attitude of farmers towards different aspects of Conservation Agriculture.

Multidimensional Scale of Attitudes Towards People with Disabilities - testing the psychometric properties of the Polish version

Attitudes toward people with disabilities are a dynamic phenomenon, dependent on a number of legal, social and individual factors. In recent years, they have been shaped in Poland mainly by legislative changes related to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the resulting national legislation, the introduction of the model of inclusive education, and social transformations through which diversity in terms of health and the (dis)abilities) one possesses is understood as a common experience, rather than a reason for isolation and rejection. The new paradigm of perceiving disability requires the use of new methods of studying contemporary phenomena, including attitudes toward people with disabilities. The purpose of this text is to present the process of adaptation to Polish conditions and proven psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Attitudes Toward People with Disabilities by L. Findler, N. Vilchinsky and S. Werner (2007). MAS-POL has satisfactory reliability ratings, both for the version targeting people with disabilities in general and those with motor, intellectual and sensory disabilities. The data obtained with this tool can expand existing analyses of attitudes toward people with disabilities, based on the more elaborate and complex structure of the phenomenon. It includes separate versions for measuring attitudes toward people experiencing different but most representative types of disabilities. Analysis of the tool's properties indicates that it can be a useful tool in contemporary research in the field of disability.

POLISH MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALE OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (PL-MAS) - ADAPTATION OF THE MAS SCALE BY L. FINDLER, N. VILCHINSKY, S. WERNER

The aim of the research was to adapt the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) by Liora Findler, Noa Vilchinsky and Shirli Werner (2007). The accuracy of the tool was measured with the Empathetic Sensitivity Scale (SWE) by Maria Kaźmierczak, Mieczysław Plopa and Sylwiusz Retowski (2007). The study included 440 Poles without disabilities, aged 18 to 80 years. Three components of the Attitudes of Behavior α = .91, Knowledge α = .90 and Emotion α = .85 were distinguished. The components of the adapted scale coincided with the original version and their reliability was similar to those obtained by the authors of the Israeli MAS scale. As expected, significant positive correlations were revealed between the MAS Emotions and Personal Distress SWE scales, as well as negative correlations between the MAS Behavior and Knowledge indicators (items mainly negative) and the SWE Empathetic Concern and Perspective Taking indicators. It was concluded that adopted PL-MAS is a reliable and accurate tool that can be used in researching the attitudes of Poles.

Influence of Religiosity on Youths' Attitudes Towards People with Disabilities in the United Arab Emirates.

This cross-sectional survey investigates the influence of youths’ religiosity on their attitude towards people with disabilities. The Muslim religiosity questionnaire and multidimensional attitudes scale towards persons with disabilities were used to survey 733 youths from the federal university in the United Arab Emirates. The results indicated that the youths were religious and had positive attitudes towards people with disabilities. An increase in religiosity is associated with a positive attitude towards disability, and both religiosity and total family income positively impacted the attitude towards people with disabilities. Reducing inequalities by including persons with disabilities is one of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development objectives. Policies should aim to enhance curriculum, improvise public guidelines and partner with associated faith-based leaders to build an inclusive society for people with disabilities, thus helping to achieve sustainable development goals.

Investigating the impact of adapted physical education service-learning projects on preservice teachers' attitudes toward individuals with disabilities.

Service-learning (SL) has been implemented widely in teacher education to connect knowledge and practical experiences. In the field of Physical Education Teacher Education, Adapted Physical Education (APE) Courses have been implemented SL to provide hands-on experiences to promote preservice teachers’ attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two SL projects, the volunteer project, and the parasports project, in the Intro APE course on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. A total of 130 preservice teachers participated in this study taking the Multidimensional Attitude Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) before and after completing two SL projects. The result of the t-test indicated that there is no difference in overall MAS scores between pre- and posttest (Meanpre=2.954, SDpre=0.689, Meanpost=3.01, SDpost=0.679; t(129)=0.390, P=0.784). However, the significant increase observed in affects subscale of MAS (Meanpre=3.47, SDpre=0.374, Meanpost=3.52, SDpost=0.188; t(129)= 0.347, P=0.327). Our finding indicated cognition and behavior of preservice teachers toward individuals with disabilities were positively increased, but not significantly improved yet. Evidence suggested that two SL projects in this study did not significantly improve the overall positive attitudes of preservice teachers toward individuals with disabilities, but it was meaningful to observe that preservice teachers increased their affects toward individuals with disabilities.

Attitudes of Students of Social Sciences and Humanities towards People with Physical Disabilities (MAS-PL).

Negative social attitudes towards people with disabilities are a serious barrier to their social, professional, and cultural functioning. Due to negative perception, disabled individuals are often homebound. The present study was an attempt to compare declared attitudes with the results of other studies using the Polish version of an international assessment tool. The aim was to verify the MAS-PL tool and to analyse the attitudes of students of social sciences and humanities towards people with physical disabilities. An additional aim was to compare declared attitudes with the results of other studies using the Polish version of an international assessment tool for students of medicine and health sciences. In total, 540 students were surveyed using the Polish adaptation of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale towards Persons with Disabilities (MAS-PL). The study confirmed the high reliability of the MAS-PL Scale. The mean global score of the scale was 82.79. There were no significant differences in the global MAS-PL score depending on respondents’ sex; however, an effect of this variable on the subscales was found. The surveyed females exhibited more positive attitudes in terms of the cognitive and behavioural components, whereas the males showed more positive attitudes in the affective subscale. There was no significant impact of the place of residence, age, and majors. Along with the year of studies, the intensity of the global and affective scale slightly increased. The surveyed students of social sciences and humanities exhibited similar attitudes towards people with physical disabilities to those declared by Polish students of medical and health sciences surveyed by Radlińska et al. The authors recommend implementation of didactic classes, projects, and activities at the stage of planning and creation of student education programs to promote tolerance towards disabled people.

The effect of advocacy education of nursing students on attitudes towards disability: a quasi-experimental study.

To determine the effect of advocacy education on the attitude of nursing students towards persons with disabilities. This study is a one-group pretest-posttest design: a quasi-experimental study. The study population consisted of 38 students who were enrolled in the advocacy course in the final year of nursing school in a public university. A ten-week Disability Advocacy Education Program was implemented. Data was collected using the Data Sheet and Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities. Male students were found to have higher mean scores after the education; there was no statistically significant difference for other variables such as family structure, place of residence, and whether they have received education on disabilities. Nursing students have a positive attitude towards people with disabilities, and that male students' attitudes improved after education. Advocacy education provided to students help them develop a positive attitude towards people with disabilities.

Determinants of Students’ Attitudes Toward People With Physical-Motor Disability

Objective: This study examined the role of social desirability, self-esteem, and some demographic variables in predicting university students’ attitudes toward people with physical-motor disabilities. Methods: The participants in this cross-sectional study were 300 students of Kurdistan University, Sanandaj city, Iran, selected using convenience sampling. The students completed the items in the Google forms of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale (MC-SDS), Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965b), a demographic information form, and the multidimensional attitudes scale towards persons with disability (MAS). The collected data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical linear regression analysis in SPSS software v. 23. Results: The results showed significant attitudinal differences in students with different demographic characteristics except for gender and education (P<0.05). In addition, social desirability and self-esteem were stronger predictors of the students’ attitudes toward people with physical-motor disability than each variable alone (P>0.05). Conclusion: Various demographic variables and other factors like self-esteem and social desirability affect students’ attitudes toward people with physical-motor disabilities. A key implication of the present study is that the role of tested variables could differ depending on cognitive, affect, and behavioral dimensions of attitudes. Researchers must pay attention to this point in future studies.

Attitudes of early childhood education teachers towards educational inclusion and the social adjustment of students with disabilities

Research shows that teachers' attitudes are a decisive element of the effective inclusion of students with disabilities, thereby conducive to the social adaptation of these students. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education and the social adjustment of students with disabilities. The sample consisted of 79 teachers of early childhood education working in a mainstream school and having a student in their class with a decision on the need for special education. The study used the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale towards Inclusive Education and the Classroom Behaviour Inventory Preschool to Primary. The results obtained in the study allow the conclusion that the positive beliefs of a teacher towards inclusive education (cognitive component of attitude) are most strongly associated with the social adaptation of a student with a disability. The conducted study showed that the teacher's readiness to modify the physical environment, his communication method and the methods of assessment with regard to the student's abilities and needs is related to the social adaptation of students with disabilities in a mainstream class. These aspects seem to be essential for the optimal functioning of a student with a disability in a mainstream class. The role of teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in shaping the social adjustment of students with disabilities was emphasized.

Adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale in Spanish population

Purpose To adapt the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP) into Spanish and examine its factor structure. Methods A forward and back translation of the IPD was performed by professional translators of scholarly articles. Spanish-speaking professional translators provided modifications in order to develop the final version of the scale. Participants filled in the Spanish version of the IDP, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward persons with disabilities (MAS), and Semantic Differential Technique (SDT). Results A total of 523 persons (62.6% women), with a mean age of 29.22 (SD = 14.03) ranking from 18 to 81. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a reliable brief version of the IDP with adequate psychometric properties and two factors: (χ (19) 2=28.98, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA (90% IC)=0.05 (0.01, 0.08), SRMR = 0.06). The first factor solution was Coping/Succumbing Framework and the second factor was Discomfort in Social Interaction. The internal consistency reliability for the first factor was 0.63 and for the second 0.66. Conclusions Our findings provide evidence of the psychometric properties of the IDP as a brief measure of attitude toward individual with special needs in Spanish population. Implications for rehabilitation The Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP) was successfully translated into Spanish language. The Spanish version of IDP Scale has a good acceptability, acceptable internal consistency, and high test–retest reliability. The Spanish version of IDP can been used to assist the clinicians, educators, and researchers in identifying the attitudes of the Spanish population toward persons with functional diversity in Spanish. Identifying the attitudes will permit to improve the inclusion polity and to design social programs toward greater inclusion.

Attitudes of Polish Medical and Health Sciences Students towards Persons with Physical Disabilities Using the MAS-PL Scale.

Discovering the role of negative attitudes in the social functioning of people with disabilities, tools were developed to measure these attitudes, of which the Multidimensional Attitude Scale of People with Disabilities (MAS) is a good one. It is particularly important to study the attitudes of people who are professionally involved in meeting the needs of people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes towards people with physical disabilities among medical and health sciences students regarding gender, year of study, field of study, and place of residence. The study was conducted among 625 students in Poland with the use of the MAS-PL scale. The results obtained indicate that women display more positive attitudes towards people with disabilities than men in the cognition and behavioural domains. In the emotional domain, these attitudes were more negative than in the other domains and almost identical for both genders. The year of study, field of study, and place of residence did not differentiate students in terms of their MAS score. Since the sociodemographic variables studied do not determine a positive attitude, educational interventions to increase contact with people with disabilities should be undertaken in future research, and this factor should be investigated as an element of attitude modulation.