Adjustment of adolescents to chronic disability.

Investigated the relationship between adolescents' adjustment to a chronic disability and 8 demographic and attitudinal variables. Adjustment was defined as the total positive score on the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Ss were 59 12–18 yr old females with idiopathic scoliosis and their mothers. Analysis identified the following 4 variables, in decreasing order, that correlated with the adjustment of adolescents to scoliosis: (a) adolescents' tendency toward the container-isolator end of B. A. Wright's (1960) theoretical continuum of coping responses to a physical disability as measured by an attitude toward disability test, (b) a dimension of maternal attitude toward disability as measured by a disability factor scale, (c) a dependency factor of maternal attitude toward females and persons with scoliosis as measured by a factor analyzed 70-item semantic differential scale, and (d) a maternal high self-concept factor from the semantic differential scale. Ss did not differ significantly from peers on the adjustment measure, and implications for treatment and rehabilitation are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)