Understanding children's attitudes towards disability

This work stemmed from discussions with our Family Faculty about the role of public attitudes in promoting the social inclusion of disabled children and their families. Parent carers working with us prioritised examining children’s attitudes for study.

We worked closely with health psychologists to explore the relationship between children's contact with disabled people and their attitudes towards disability.

The research was led by Megan Armstrong (née MacMillan) as part of her PhD funded by the NIHR through PenCLAHRC.

There were four key pieces of research:

1. A systematic review examining all studies that have measured children’s contact with disabled people and their attitudes towards disability.

2. A cross-sectional survey in 20 mainstream schools in SW England to explore factors associated with children’s attitudes to disability.

3. Analysis of the validity and precision of the scores from a questionnaire used to measure children's attitudes towards disability.

4. A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions that aim to improve children's attitudes towards disability that incorporate contact with disabled people.

Megan defended her PhD thesis successfully in examination in July 2015.

Outputs

MacMillan M, Tarrant M, Abraham C, Morris, C. (2014). The association between children's contact with people with disabilities and their attitudes towards disability: a systematic review. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 56(6), 529-546.

Armstrong M, Morris C, Abraham C, Ukoumunne OC, Tarrant M. (2015) Children’s contact with people with disabilities and their attitudes towards disability: a cross-sectional study. Disability and Rehabilitation. doi:10.3109/09638288.2015.1074727

Armstrong M, Morris C, Tarrant M, Abraham C, Horton M. (2016). Rasch analysis of the Chedoke McMaster Attitudes towards Children with Handicaps scale. Disability and Rehabilitation. doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2016.1140833

Armstrong M, Morris C, Abraham C, Tarrant M. (2016) Interventions utilising contact with people with disabilities to improve children's attitudes towards disability: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Disability and Health Journal.

We have also produced plain language summaries for each paper.

Meeting Notes

19th November 2013 Promoting positive attitudes to childhood disability meeting

26th April 2013 Promoting positive attitudes towards disability Meeting Notes 26 April 2013

‌23rd October 2012 Social inclusion meeting

19th January 2012 Social inclusion meeting

10th February 2011 Social inclusion meeting

2nd December 2010 Social inclusion meeting

22nd September 2010 Social inclusion meeting