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Does type of disability make a difference in affiliate stigma among family caregivers of individuals with autism, intellectual disability or physical disability?
Author(s) -
Werner S.,
Shulman C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/jir.12136
Subject(s) - stigma (botany) , intellectual disability , psychology , autism , feeling , clinical psychology , psychiatry , family caregivers , developmental psychology , gerontology , medicine , social psychology
Background Studies have shown that beyond public and self stigma, stigma can also impact family members. Only scant research has examined the internalised aspects of stigma, known as affiliate stigma, among family caregivers of individuals with disabilities. This study examined affiliate stigma among family caregivers of individuals with developmental disabilities via a comparison between caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities ( ID ), autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) and physical disabilities ( PD ) in I srael. Methods Family caregivers ( n = 171) of individuals with developmental disabilities, mainly ID (22.4%), ASD (32.9%) and PD (27.1%), completed a self‐report structured questionnaire including the A ffiliate S tigma S cale and background variables. Results Results supported a one‐factor structure for the A ffiliate S tigma S cale. Overall, affiliate stigma was relatively low in this sample, but was found to be higher among caregivers of individuals with ASD when compared with caregivers of individuals with ID or PD . Conclusion Findings from this study point to the importance of supporting caregivers of individuals with ASD to decrease their feelings of stigma. It is also important to further develop scales measuring affiliate stigma in order to capture the multi‐dimensional nature of the concept.