Relationships between orthopedic disability and perceived social support: Four theoretical hypotheses

How an orthopedic disability affects reported social support, by a path-analysis design with 100 subjects with mild orthopedic disabilities was tested. It was found that the vulnerability of the able-bodied onlooker, assessed by the magnitude of the disability and its conspicuousness, was not related to social support perceived by a person with disability. The perceived social support was affected negatively by the personality of the person with a disability, tapped by his or her sense of impediment and anxiety, and by the uncertainty of both participants measured by diminished conspicuousness of the disability and enhanced anxiety of the person with a disability. Older age but now lower social status was related to the experience of reduced social support. The practical implications of the findings are that rehabilitation should include techniques for reduction of anxiety, and acquisition of communication strategies.