The “Own” and the “Wise” Revisited: Physical Disability, Stigma, and Mental Health among Couples

Abstract

Utilizing data from a cross-sectional community survey of 455 heterosexual couples in which at least one partner has a physical disability, we examine the associations between stigma and psychological distress for both partners. We also assess whether these associations are moderated by gender. Findings from an actor-partner interdependence model analysis reveal that personally experienced stigma and vicarious stigma experiences have additive effects on psychological distress, but only among women. We discuss how these findings extend a relational understanding of stigma and its effects and implications for research and practice.

Stressors associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic, disability, and mental health: Considerations from the Intermountain West

“…Marriage inequality in the U.S. on the axis of disability has also been well established, such that in many states individuals with disabilities cannot maintain their social safety net resources if they marry (Belt, 2015; Stasio, 2020). While research on coupled individuals with disabilities is relatively scarce, a recently published study has documented that personally experienced stigma is associated with increased psychological distress in couples where at least one partner has a self‐reported disability (Brown & Ciciurkaite, 2021). In the context of the pandemic and increased fear of contracting the virus, social interactions in informal and formal social networks likely have become even more limited, augmenting the feelings of social isolation and loneliness among this already oppressed group.…”

Disability Is Not a Burden: The Relationship between Early Childhood Disability and Maternal Health Depends on Family Socioeconomic Status

“…In the United States, the extra costs associated with disability largely fall on individual families due to inadequate government support (Drew 2015; Lukemeyer et al 2000; Morris et al 2022). Higher SES mothers may be able to avoid some of the structural ableism, stigma, marginalization, and blame that, as a social relational understanding of disability indicates (Thomas 2004a, 2004b), can undermine relational interactions in ways that impact health (Brown 2017; Brown and Ciciurkaite 2021; Carr et al 2017; Friedman and Owen 2017; Mauldin and Brown 2021; Namkung and Carr 2019), including among mothers raising disabled children (Francis 2012; Green 2003; Green et al 2005; Niedbalski 2022; Nurullah 2013; Thomas 2021). Unrelenting disability-related costs and institutional barriers rooted in ableism may be particularly challenging for mothers of disabled children with limited socioeconomic resources, explaining the health disparity that this study observes among lower SES mothers but not higher SES mothers.…”

“…This perspective frames disability as a form of social oppression that occurs through relational encounters at the micro, meso, and macro levels, including family relationships, community interactions, and institutional encounters with health care, education, or welfare systems (Thomas 2004a(Thomas , 2004b. A social relational perspective reflects an understanding that the social meaning of disability is reinforced in structural contexts and mediated through interpersonal dynamics, including family relationships, in ways that can compromise relationships and health (Brown and Ciciurkaite 2021;Carr, Cornman, and Freedman 2017;Friedman and Owen 2017).…”

“…Recent work highlights how disability and ableism are axes of inequality that shape health and well-being (Mauldin and Brown 2021; Shandra 2018). The stigma, interpersonal mistreatment, and institutional discrimination disabled people experience can take a toll on health (Brown 2017; Brown and Ciciurkaite 2021; Namkung and Carr 2019). Among parents of disabled individuals, stigma pertaining to embarrassment, shame, and daily discrimination is linked to worse self-rated health and more chronic conditions (Song, Mailick, and Greenberg 2018).…”

The Sociology of Disability-Based Economic Inequality

“…However, discrimination based on status characteristics also evolves out of unconscious or implicit biases about certain groups (Greenwald and Krieger 2006; Tajfel 1982). Disability is a negative and stigmatizing master status (see Brown and Ciciurkaite 2021; Brown and Batty 2022) that continues to disadvantage and oppress a historically marginalized community. In studies incorporating implicit measures of disability attitudes, respondents indicated implicit preferences for people without disabilities, treating disabled people as hazardous, weak, and even childlike (Robey, Beckley, and Kirschner 2006; Vaughn, Thomas, and Doyle 2011).…”