The Relationship Between Health Care Professionals' Intersecting Disability and Race Implicit Attitudes and Their Beliefs About People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Carli Friedman
PMID 40926585WHAT IT FOUND
Health care professionals who more strongly preferred nondisabled white people were more likely to see people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as difficult, behaviourally challenging, and lower in quality of life; no link appeared for equal treatment.
Key findings
01Health care professionals showed the strongest implicit preference for nondisabled white people, then disabled white people, then disabled people of colour and nondisabled people of colour.
02Stronger implicit preference for nondisabled white people was associated with greater agreement that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more difficult patients, more likely to exhibit challenging behaviours, and have a lower quality of life.
03More positive implicit attitudes toward disabled people of colour were associated with less agreement that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more difficult patients, more likely to exhibit challenging behaviours, and have a lower quality of life.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was not random, and people opted into participation, so self-selection bias is possible. The sample was not representative, and most participants were white and women. The implicit measure was about attitudes toward disability more broadly, not specifically intellectual and developmental disabilities. The study is correlational, so it cannot show that implicit attitudes caused the beliefs. Beliefs were self-reported perceptions, not observed clinical behaviour. The authors did not explore interactions, which could matter. The sociodemographic findings were exploratory and need further examination.
Declared interests
The author declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by WITH Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that implicit bias caused these beliefs or that individual therapists are prejudiced. The study is correlational, the sample was self-selected and not representative, and the implicit measure covered disability broadly rather than intellectual and developmental disabilities specifically.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →