Anxiety and self-esteem of 105 wheelchair-bound persons, distributed over four age-of-disability-onset groups, were assessed by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Self-Esteem Inventory. Significantly higher levels of trait anxiety and lower levels of self-esteem were found in the earliest disabilityonset group. The effect of age-of-onset-was nonlinear, however, with the highest age-of-onset group also showing decreased self-esteem and increased anxiety.The formation of self-esteem is profoundly influenced by social interactions which convey evaluative feedback from significant others (Epstein, 1973; Tucker, 1970;Wylie, 1961;Coopersmith, 1967). Clearly, the disabled person encounters a distinctly different set of social reactions than the nondisabled, and indeed it is likely that the reaction of others covaries with type of disability and degree of cosmetic impairment (Barker, 1948). Weinberg-Asher (1976) reported that the nondisabled person views the disabled as lacking social skills, being less intelligent, less cheerful, less popular, less aggressive, less happy, less enjoyable and less relaxing to be with than others. Thus, the disabled individual may believe that s/he is evaluated not only in terms of physical disability, but in terms of psychological aspects as well (Ladieu, Adler & Dembo, 1948). Internalization of critical evaluations, together with social isolation or ostracism which often accompanies disability (Goble & Nichols, 1971), may lead to lowered self-esteem (Coopersmith, 1967).
