Construction and validation of the Disability Rights Attitude Scale: Assessing attitudes toward the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The authors constructed and validated an instrument that assesses attitudes toward the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), a law that protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. The Disability Rights Attitude Scale (DRAS) demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity with 2 samples of university students (N — 421). Reliability analysis resulted in Cronbach's alphas of .91 (Sample 1) and .90 (Sample 2). Principal-components factor analysis indicated that the DRAS essentially consists of 1 factor that accounted for 27% (Sample 1) and 31% (Sample 2) of the total variance. Construct validity analysis resulted in predicted, significant positive correlations with other relevant measures. A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that sex, ethnicity, and prior contact with people with disabilities were significant predictors of attitudes toward the law. The DRAS provides a psychometrically sound means of assessing attitudes toward disability rights that may encourage or impede implementation of the ADA. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA; 1991) of 1990 is the most comprehensive civil rights law for individuals with disabilities to date. Modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the ADA is intended to have a significant impact on the working and living environments of those with disabilities (Johnson & Baldwin, 1993). This law is composed of five titles designed to remove barriers in the areas of employment (Title I), state and local government services (Title II), private and public accommodations and services (Title HI), and telecommunications (Title IV). Title V of the ADA (miscellaneous provisions) encompasses an array of issues, such as nonprotection for those actively using illegal drugs. Overall, the ADA aims at fully including individuals with disabilities in society. Many individuals are required to comply with the ADA, including employers, Rehabilitation Psychology. 1998, Vol. 43, No. 3, 203-218 Copyright 1998 by the Educational Publishing Foundation, 0090-5550/98/$3.00 203 204 Hernandez, Keys, Bakazar, and Drum state and local government policy makers, business owners, and providers of goods and services. Under the act, they may have to remove architectural, communication, and transportation barriers; modify rules, policies, and procedures; and provide auxiliary aids and services. Success of the ADA is highly dependent on the actions of these individuals, with some arguing that the success of the ADA is a function of the public's attitudes toward this law (Watson, 1994; Wehman, 1993). Public attitudes may pose significant barriers to implementing the ADA provisions, and thus may constrain the life choices available to rehabilitation clients. The ADA has been described as the "most disruptive piece of civil rights legislation in our history" (Mandel, 1989, p. 24). Lindsay (1989) noted that the law may be viewed as a governmental burden, citing its vaguely written provisions and broad definition of disabilities. Even the TV news program 20/20 aired a segment against this law, claiming that the law's complexity may have worsened employment opportunities for those with disabilities (Thrasher, 1996). Although the relation can be complex, psychological attitudes, in conjunction with subjective norms, may influence an individual's behavior (Olson & Zanna, 1993). Given the precedents of resistance to implementing the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by both the public and state personnel directors (Drum, in press; Scotch, 1984), assessment of attitudes may be helpful to understanding the prevalence and potential success of ADA implementation activities. Moreover, psychological attitudes toward disability rights held by people with disabilities, family, friends, staff, employers, and relevant others may influence the goals and course of rehabilitation (Wehman, 1993). Research regarding attitudes toward individuals with disabilities has been extensive (Wilgosh & Skaret, 1987; Yuker, 1988), dating back to the work of Strong (1931), who used a checklist to examine these attitudes. Less investigated, however, are attitudes toward the civil rights of individuals with disabilities (Drum, in press). Attitudes toward the ADA have received little research attention, due in part to the recency of the law that was passed in 1990 and its provisions that are being gradually phased in over time. There is also a lack of psychometrically sound measures concerning attitudes toward disability rights in general and the ADAin particular. To date, Satcher and Hendren (1991) and Moore and Crimando (1995) have developed instruments that target the law. However, validity has not been reported for either measure. MEASURES OF ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ADA Satcher and Hendren (1991) constructed the Americans With Disabilities Act Survey, a 12-item measure that assesses acceptance of the employment, transportation, public services and accommodations, and telecommunications provisions of the ADA. Reliability analysis of this survey yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .85, with a factor analysis indicating that items loaded on one factor. Acceptance. No validity information was reported for this measure. Examining predictor variADA Attitude Scale 205 ables, Satcher and Hendren (1991, 1992) found that sex, type of occupational setting, prior contact with people with disabilities, and level of educational attainment did not predict agreement with the ADA among samples of personnel students and employers. Moore and Crimando (1995) developed the ADA Employment Inventory, a 29-item measure designed to assess attitudes toward Title I of the ADA. This measure consists of six conceptually derived subscales that address issues related to cost, fairness, clarity, practicality, effectiveness, and general attitude toward the employment provisions. Reliability analysis for each of the instrument's six subscales yielded Cronbach's alphas exceeding .65 for each subscale. Validity information for this measure was not reported. Thus, the primary purpose of this study is to develop a reliable and valid measure that assesses attitudes concerning the ADA and disability rights. This article reports the development and psychometric analysis (viz., reliability and construct validity) of a new measure that assesses attitudes regarding the ADA. More generally, it taps the extent to which people with disabilities are considered equal members of society. This measure includes issues specific to the three major ADA titles: (a) employment, (b) state and local government services, and (c) access to private and public goods and services, as they are related to individuals with specific disabilities (e.g., physical, hearing, visual) and people with disabilities in general. Also, demographic and experience variables are examined to assess the extent to which they predict attitudes toward disability rights. Assessment of such attitudes seems fundamental to understanding attitudinal factors that may encourage or impede ADA implementation.