The social and emotional adjustment of physically disabled Lusaka primary school children

Abstract

The social and emotional adjustment of physically disabled, Lusaka primary school children was compared vfith the adjustment of their non-disabled counterparts.The main purpose of the study was to see if the disabled sample manifested significantly more rejection, ovor-r protection and a lower mental health status than their non-disabled counterparts.Three instruments were used to try and detect those differences betv/eon the tvro groups of children. They were the Parental Acceptance Rejection Questionnaire and the Personality Assessment Questionnaire, both devised by Rohner and his associates for their "Parental Acceptance - Rejection Theory -"PART and the "Over-Protection" Questionnaire devised by myself.The findings, contrary to much of the literature on the disabled,revealed no significant differences between the two groups in terms of rejection, over-protection or mental health status. The only significant difference was in negative self-esteem (a scale of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire), with the disabled sample manifesting significantly lower self-esteems than their non-disabled counterparts. The results thus revealed an overall positive picture of social and emotional adjustment for the disabled sample concerned, contrary to much of the existing literature on the disabled.