A cross-sectional multivariate analysis of children's attitudes towards disabilities.
Kids grow more negative toward classmates with intellectual disability between third and sixth grade, but not toward those with only physical disability.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked the kids in grades 3-6 what they thought about classmates with different disabilities.
Each child filled out a picture quiz that rated how "smart, fun, and good" they thought the pictured peer was.
The pictures showed kids with no disability, physical disability only, intellectual disability only, or both.
What they found
As grade level went up, scores for kids with intellectual disability dropped.
By sixth grade, the average rating was "below average" for peers with ID.
Ratings for peers with only physical disability stayed the same as for non-disabled peers.
How this fits with other research
Sisson et al. (1993) saw the opposite: elementary kids in well-integrated schools rated ID peers positively.
The difference is likely the setting—A et al. studied schools with strong inclusion policies, while Freeman (2006) sampled regular classrooms with little integration.
Nikolov et al. (2009) also found high acceptance, but their data came from a summer camp, not a classroom.
Chen et al. (2019) add that even preschool play groups split by disability status, hinting that segregation starts early and may feed later negativity.
Why it matters
If you run social-skills groups or push inclusion, target upper-elementary grades before attitudes harden.
Pair typical peers with ID peers for shared projects and monitor the peer ratings monthly; a small dip is your cue to add more structured contact.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Past research has shown that children can be biased against peers with disabilities, but the association of attitudes with gender, age and disability preferences, as well as interactions between these variables, are unclear. The objectives of this study were to examine these issues in a cross-sectional, split-plot study to clarify: (1) if elementary school children's attitudes towards peers with disabilities are related to age, gender and type of disability; (2) if interactions between these variables exist; and (3) if convergent validity could be achieved across three theoretically linked dependent variables. METHODS: One hundred elementary school children between 4 and 10 years old were assessed for attitudes towards target children with no disability, a physical or an intellectual disability, and a combined intellectual/physical disability. Measures were completed in an interview format. RESULTS: Attitudes towards a target child with physical disabilities and a target child without disabilities did not differ. There was a significant interaction for age and disability. Attitudes towards target children with intellectual and intellectual/physical disabilities were negatively biased, and were negatively associated with age. Results were consistent across measures except for a main effect of gender in one measure and a gender by age interaction in another. CONCLUSIONS: Children's attitudes appear to be associated with several factors, including age and the presence or absence of disability. Gender differences in attitudes may be because of gender-based response biases rather than disability biases. Because of the multifaceted nature of childhood attitudes, cross-sectional designs with several dependent and independent variables provide an opportunity to examine consistency of results across measures and potential interactions between factors that may not be uncovered when variables are examined in isolation.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2006 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2005.00781.x