The Deaf Identity Development Scale: A revision and validation

Abstract

The Deaf Identity Development Scale (DIDS; N. S. Glickman, 1993) was revised on the basis of recommendations by N. S. Glickman and was validated on a sample of 323 hearing-impaired participants residing in the southwestern part of the United States. The DIDS is an instrument designed to measure 4 deaf identity constructs: hearing, marginal, immersion, and bicultural. The findings were tested according to the deaf identity development theory and the data were analyzed for internal consistency reliability, item-to-scale reliability, and interscale correlations. Results of these and factor analysis support the existence of 4 relatively independent deaf identities. Results of 4 separate analyses of variance with post hoc multiple comparisons reveal that onset and severity of hearing loss influences one's deaf identity development.