Children's Attitudes towards Peers with Disabilities: Associations with Personal and Parental Factors

Soo Young Hong, Kyong Ah Kwon, Hyun Joo Jeon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the following: (i) associations among children's prior contact with people with disabilities and the three dimensions of children's attitudes towards people with disabilities: children's understanding of and their feelings about people with disabilities and their behavioural intentions to make inclusion decisions; (ii) the relation between children's behavioural intentions to make inclusion decisions and the demands of activity contexts and the types of disabilities; and (iii) the association between parents' attitudes and children's attitudes. Participants included 94 typically developing four- and five-year-old preschoolers. Children's understanding of disabilities and their prior contact with people with disabilities were found to be positively related to their feelings about people with disabilities; children's understanding of disabilities was a significant moderator of the relation between their behavioural intentions and activity contexts or types of disabilities. The hypothesized association between parents' attitudes and children's attitudes was not significant. Preschoolers may benefit from having more regular contact with people with disabilities to develop positive feelings towards their peers with disabilities, which is also related to their understanding of disabilities. Children's behavioural intentions to make inclusion decisions need to be understood in relation to their understanding of disabilities, the demand of activity contexts, and types of disabilities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)170-193
Number of pages24
JournalInfant and Child Development
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Attitudes towards peers with disabilities
  • Inclusion
  • Parents' attitudes
  • Preschoolers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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