Construction and validation of the Disability Rights Attitude Scale: Assessing attitudes toward the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The authors constructed and validated an instrument that assesses attitudes toward the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), a law that protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. The Disability Rights Attitude Scale (DRAS) demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity with 2 samples of university students (N — 421). Reliability analysis resulted in Cronbach's alphas of.91 (Sample 1) and.90 (Sample 2). Principal-components factor analysis indicated that the DRAS essentially consists of 1 factor that accounted for 27 % (Sample 1) and 31 % (Sample 2) of the total variance. Construct validity analysis resulted in predicted, significant positive correlations with other relevant measures. A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that sex, ethnicity, and prior contact with people with disabilities were significant predictors of attitudes toward the law. The DRAS provides a psychometrically sound means of assessing attitudes toward disability rights that may encourage or impede implementation of the ADA. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA; 1991) of 1990 is the most comprehen-sive civil rights law for individuals with disabilities to date. Modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the ADA is intended to have a significant impact on the working and living environments of those with disabilities (Johnson & Baldwin, 1993). This law is composed of five titles designed to remove barriers in the areas of employment (Title I), state and local government services (Title II), private and public accommodations and services (Title HI), and telecommunications (Title IV). Title V of the ADA (miscellaneous provisions) encompasses an array of issues, such as nonprotection for those actively using illegal drugs. Overall, the ADA aims at fully including individuals with disabilities in society. Many individuals are required to comply with the ADA, including employers,