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Evaluation ViewAttendees 3

Category: Oppression and Resilience Minority Health

Symposium 53 - Disability as an Identity: Mental Health and Wellbeing Correlates and Implications for Future Research

Saturday, November 18, 2023
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM PST
Location: Clearwater (702), Level 7
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Underserved Populations, Health Psychology,
Level of Familiarity: Basic to Moderate
Recommended Readings: Zapata, M. A., & Pearlstein, J. G. (2022). Disability self-worth relates to lower anxiety and depression in people with visual impairment. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 78(7), 1491-1499.,   Lund, E. M., Khazem, L. R., & DeJesus, C. R. (2022). Addressing intersectional identities and experiences in professional psychology trainees with disabilities: A call for action. Training and Education in Professional Psychology. Advance online publication,  
Victor, S. E., Schleider, J. L., Ammerman, B. A., Bradford, D. E., Devendorf, A. R., Gruber, J., ... & Stage, D. R. L. (2022). Leveraging the strengths of psychologists with lived experience of psychopathology. Perspectives on psychological science, 17(6), 1624-1632.,   ,  

While disability has traditionally been viewed from a deficit perspective, the conceptualization of disability as an identity and facet of diversity has grown in recent years. Research suggests that viewing disability through the lens of identity holds large implications for mental health and wellbeing among people with disabilities. Yet, while it is standard practice for psychology research studies to assess a variety of other identities (e.g., race, gender, etc...), assessment of disability identity is not common. Considering that disability is the largest minority group, failing to consider the impact of this identity in research could limit findings. Further, since disability identity may be related to mental health and wellbeing among disabled people, it offers a potential treatment target that has remained relatively untapped. These factors highlight the importance of further research on disability identity, its relationships to mental health and wellbeing, treatment implications, and best measurement practices in the field of psychology.    

 

This symposium will discuss recent research on disability identity, its conceptualization across disabilities and mental health concerns, its relationship to wellbeing, and implications for interventions. The symposium will conclude with all speakers sharing their lived experience with disability, how this has shaped their work, and provide attendees with examples of readily applicable disability-affirmative research practices.   

 

First, Victor will discuss results from a study examining self-reported disability identity and psychopathology from a large, representative dataset of faculty and graduate trainees in accredited American and Canadian clinical, counseling, and school psychology doctoral programs. Pearlstein will discuss results from a study examining the relationship between two subconstructs of disability identity, self-worth and personal meaning, disability-related factors, and anxiety and depression in an international sample of people with visual impairment. Rule will share results from an online focus group study examining perceptions of an adapted physical disability identity scale among adults with physical disabilities. Khazem will detail outcomes from a preliminary study on a disability-affirming, telehealth-administered adaptation of Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention in reducing suicidal ideation and related cognitions for people with disabilities. After all presentations, Schleider will facilitate discussion of the presenters’ lived experiences with disability identities and disability-inclusive research practices.    

 

Overall, this symposium will discuss the growing conceptualization of disability as an identity and the implications for research and treatment. We will highlight novel future directions and the potential role of disability identity in promoting mental health and wellbeing among people with disabilities. This symposium will also detail the presenters’ lived experiences with disability and provide suggestions for disability-inclusive practices attendees can apply to their own scholarship when working with disabled colleagues, participants, and recipients of clinical services.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the session, the learner will be able to:
  • Provide an overview of disability identity and its relationships with mental health and wellbeing in individuals with a variety of disabilities.
  • Understand the problems associated with solely taking a deficit perspective in disability research.
  • Describe the implications and promise of considering disability from an identity perspective.
  • Highlight potential measures for capturing disability identity among different samples.
  • Detail future directions for research on disability identity and treatment implications for people with disabilities.
  • Describe the lived experiences of researchers with disabilities who are conducting research on disability identity.
  • Provide examples of readily applicable practices to promote inclusion of disabled people in scholarship, research, and clinical practice.