Iwona Radlińska1, Anna Starkowska2, Marta Kożybska1, Kinga Flaga-Gieruszyńska1, Beata Karakiewicz3. 1. Division of Medical Law, Department of Social Medicine, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland. 2. Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wroclaw, Poland. 3. Division of Public Health and Social Medicine, Department of Social Medicine, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to create a Polish adaptation of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) by performing a statistical psychometric analysis in a sample of Polish students. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 540 person (82.0% of students and 18.0% of workers), whose attitudes towards the disabled were measured with the Polish version of the MAS (MAS-PL). Mean age of respondents was 24.72 years (SD = 5.7), with a significant majority of women (n = 455, 84.3%). Data was collected during university classes and via an online survey. RESULTS: Factor analysis yielded a three-factor structure of the MAS-PL, including affective, cognitive, and behavioural domains, which explained almost 45% of the total variance. Further factor-based solutions increased this percentage only slightly (0.8). CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the MAS scale (MAS-PL) has been developed and presented as a reliable instrument for studying the attitudes of Poles towards people with disabilities. The scale can be used as a preliminary assessment tool when creating educational programmes, including those for training and social Policy, as well as assessing the effectiveness of programmes. Studies with the use of the MAS-PL will allow comparisons of research findings conducted with the use of MAS scales in other English-speaking (original/English MAS) or Spanish-speaking (Spanish MAS) populations and German (G-MAS), Korean (MAS-K), Serbian (Serbian MAS), Turkish (Turkish MAS) and French populations (French MAS autism).
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to create a Polish adaptation of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) by performing a statistical psychometric analysis in a sample of Polish students. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 540 person (82.0% of students and 18.0% of workers), whose attitudes towards the disabled were measured with the Polish version of the MAS (MAS-PL). Mean age of respondents was 24.72 years (SD = 5.7), with a significant majority of women (n = 455, 84.3%). Data was collected during university classes and via an online survey. RESULTS: Factor analysis yielded a three-factor structure of the MAS-PL, including affective, cognitive, and behavioural domains, which explained almost 45% of the total variance. Further factor-based solutions increased this percentage only slightly (0.8). CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the MAS scale (MAS-PL) has been developed and presented as a reliable instrument for studying the attitudes of Poles towards people with disabilities. The scale can be used as a preliminary assessment tool when creating educational programmes, including those for training and social Policy, as well as assessing the effectiveness of programmes. Studies with the use of the MAS-PL will allow comparisons of research findings conducted with the use of MAS scales in other English-speaking (original/English MAS) or Spanish-speaking (Spanish MAS) populations and German (G-MAS), Korean (MAS-K), Serbian (Serbian MAS), Turkish (Turkish MAS) and French populations (French MAS autism).