Stigma Consciousness Among Adolescents With Learning Disabilities: Considering Individual Experiences of Being Stereotyped

Abstract

Being identified with a learning disability makes students vulnerable to experiences of stigmatization, which can be associated with negative academic and emotional effects. Yet, research with other vulnerable populations demonstrates that individual perceptions of stigmatization, or stigma consciousness, are not uniform and that variability in stigma consciousness is more predictive of outcomes than assuming all members of the group are similarly affected. We present here a measure that enables consideration of such individual experiences of stigma consciousness specifically designed and tested with adolescents with learning disabilities (N = 42). We demonstrate that the Stigma Consciousness Questionnaire–Learning Disabilities (SCQ-LD) is reliable, valid, and usable with this population. Furthermore, we demonstrate that variability in stigma consciousness is present. Results support the use of this construct and measure to contribute to our understanding of the individual experiences of students in this population.