PREDICTORS OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY IN AUSTRALIA: FINDINGS FROM A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY OF AUSTRALIAN ADULTS

Abstract

There have been many studies on attitudes to disability, but few are nationally representative, and little is known about how attitudes vary by socio-demographic characteristics and contact with disabled people. We used data from 2,000 members of an Australian probability panel who completed a survey on disability-related attitudes. Attitudes were measured with the Attitudes to Disability Scale (ADS), which asks 16 questions in 5-point Likert-type format. The outcome for this analysis was the Prospects sub-scale, which asks whether the capacities and aspirations of disabled people should differ from those of non-disabled people. Raw scores out of 20 points were standardized (mean 0, SD 1) wi..