Children with physical disabilities are at increased risk of limitations to participation in everyday activities. This study describes research examining the participation of children in day‐to‐day formal and informal activities (excluding mandated academic schooling). Using the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) measure, data on participation patterns were collected from 427 children (229 males, 198 females; mean age 10y [SD 2y 4mo]; range 6–14y) with physical limitations and from their families. The primary types of physical disability in the sample included cerebral palsy, spina bifida, acquired brain injury, and musculoskeletal limitations. Findings indicate a broad range of diversity and intensity of participation, with proportionately greater involvement in informal rather than formal activities. Significant differences in participation and enjoyment were found between males and females, and for children more than 12 years of age. Children's participation was less diverse in families reporting lower income, single‐parent status, and lower respondent parent education. These findings provide a foundation for an improved understanding of the participation of children with physical disabilities, which can assist families and service providers in planning activities that fit with their child's preferences and ensure active participation.

Two studies examined the role of individual differences in construct accessibility in subjective impressions and recall of others. In the first session of each study, subjects' accessible traits were elicited by asking them to list the characteristics of different people, with accessibility defined as frequency of output (Study 1) or as primacy of output (Study 2). In the second session, held 1 or 2 weeks later and supposedly investigating a different issue for a different researcher, subjects read an essay describing the behaviors of a target person. The essay contained both accessible trait-related information and inaccessible trait-related information for each subject, with different traits being accessible or inaccessible for different subjects. Both studies found that subjects deleted significantly more inaccessible trait-related information than accessible trait-related information in their impressions and in their reproductions of the target information. Moreover, this effect on impressions and reproductions was evident even 2 weeks after exposure to the target information (Study 1). This general effect was not found for the impressions of subjects low in cognitive differentiation, even though it was found for their reproductions (Study 2), which suggests that their active bias toward forming univalent impressions inhibited the passive-accessibility effect. The implications of this approach for personality differences, interpersonal conflict and attraction, similarity of self and other judgments, and therapeutic intervention are discussed.Construct systems can be considered as a kind of scan-observers may often be more critical than ning pattern which a person continually projects upon ^g ev entS themselves (cf. Kelly, 1955; Lewin, his world. As he sweeps back and forth across his per-m5 Mischd 1 98 1). T t i s interesting that ceptual field he picks up blips of meaning. (Kelly, 1955, .' . ,!! ., . ,.". . °p 145) consistent individual differences in person perception have been found most often in The interface of personality, social, and regard to t h e cognitive or intellective charcognitive psychology has recently received ac teristics of the judge (cf. Mischel, 1973; increasing attention (see, e.g., Cantor & Shrauger &Altrocchi, 1964; Tagiuri, 1969). Kihlstrom, 1981). An important aspect of The cognitive characteristics considered most this interface is that the same "objective" o f ten have been different kinds of cognitive stimulus tends to be processed differently by sty i e) sucn as cognitive differentiation, levdifferent individuals 4n terms of their per-ding-sharpening, and field independence sonal, subjective meanings and that these (Mischel, 1973; Shrauger & Altrocchi, idiosyncratic meanings arise from idiosyn-196 4) f As Mischel (1973) points out, howcratic histories. In fact, how social events are ever) individual differences in the subjective interpreted and remembered by different meaning of social events may be especially _____ ' evident in the personal constructs individualsResearch and ...

BackgroundParental care for a child with a developmental disability is an enormous responsibility, one that can far exceed that of typical parental care. While most parents adapt well to the situation of caring for a child with a disability, some do not. To understand parents' adaptations to their children's disabilities, the complex nature of stress processes must be accounted for and the constructs and factors that play a role in the caregiving must be considered.DiscussionEvidence suggests that there is considerable variation in how caregivers adapt to their caregiving demands. Many studies have sought to qualify the association between caregiving and health outcomes of the caregivers. Contextual factors such as SES, child factors such as child behaviour problems and severity of disability, intra-psychic factors such as mastery and self-esteem, coping strategies and social supports have all been associated with psychological and/or physical outcome or parents or primary caregivers. In reviewing these issues, the literature appears to be limited by the use of traditional analytic approaches which examine the relationship between a factor and an outcome. It is clear, however, that changes to single factors, as represented in these studies, occur very rarely even in the experimental context. The literature has also been limited by lack of reliance on specific theoretical frameworks.SummaryThis conceptual paper documents the state of current knowledge and explores the current theoretical frameworks that have been used to describe the caregiving process from two diverse fields, pediatrics and geriatrics. Integration of these models into one comprehensive model suitable for this population of children with disabilities and their caregivers is proposed. This model may guide future research in this area.

There is a need for psychometrically sound measures of children's participation in recreation and leisure activities, for both clinical and research purposes. This paper provides information about the construct validity of the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and its companion measure, Preferences for Activities of Children (PAC). These measures are appropriate for children and youth with and without disabilities between the ages of 6 and 21 years. They provide information about six dimensions of participation (i.e. diversity, intensity, where, with whom, enjoyment and preference) and two categories of recreation and leisure activities: (i) formal and informal activities; and (ii) five types of activities (recreational, active physical, social, skill-based and self-improvement). This paper presents information about the performance of the CAPE and PAC activity type scores using data from a study involving 427 children with physical disabilities between the ages of 6 and 15 years. Intensity, enjoyment and preference scores were significantly correlated with environmental, family and child variables, in expected ways. Predictions also were supported with respect to differences in mean scores for boys vs. girls, and children in various age groups. The information substantiates the construct validity of the measures. The clinical and research utility of the measures are discussed.

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