Perceived Stigma Among Serbian Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Physical Disabilities: Validation of a New Instrument

Abstract

Limited research has been done to explore parental perception of stigma. The present study developed the Parental Perceptions of Public Attitudes Scale to examine perceived stigma among Serbian parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with physical disabilities (PD). The convenience sample consisted of 82 participants. A confirmatory factor analysis was done to validate the scale and a 9-item solution clustered into two factors proved to be the best model. Overall, the parents reported a low-to-moderate level of perceived stigma. Parents of children with ASD reported higher degree of perceived stigma compared to the parents of children with PD. The scale was useful in measuring parental perceived stigma and could be used in other Eastern European countries.