title: Comparison of able-bodied and spinal cord injured individuals' appraisals of disability.
abstract: METHODS
  Survey.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Compare views of disability in able-bodied and spinal cord-injured individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of able-bodied individuals were asked to imagine that they had sustained a spinal cord injury (SCI), then complete the Appraisals of DisAbility: primary and secondary scale (ADAPSS) as if they were injured. The mean scores of able-bodied individuals on each of the six Subscales was compared with the mean scores of real spinal cord-injured individuals using t-tests of independent means.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Responses of able-bodied individuals was significantly different from real SCI individuals on five of the six Subscales of the ADAPSS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Able-bodied individuals' appraisals of disability after imagined SCI are much more negative than the actual appraisals of disability in real spinal cord-injured individuals.
authors.affiliation: Roosevelt University, Department of Psychology, Chicago, IL 60605, USA. jmorris@roosevelt.edu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Swier-Vosnos
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dusold
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Woodworth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult