An attitudinal study of adolescents in Shandong Province, China, towards peers with intellectual disabilities: An urban–rural comparison

Public attitudes towards people with intellectual disability (ID) remain under-investigated in China. This exploratory study looks at this issue through an examination of adolescents’ attitudes across urban and rural areas in Shandong Province, utilising the CATCH Scale alongside demographic analysis. Results yielded comparable levels of affective, behavioural, and cognitive attitudes, which surpassed the neutral threshold whilst falling below being strongly positive. Distinct distribution patterns emerged in gender, prior contact, sibling condition, and academic performance between urban and rural participants, indicating different roles of gendered expression, social connection, information pathway, and self-perception development in these contexts. The attitudinal levels and identified mechanisms underlying attitude formation provide practical insights for the improvement of public attitude and social inclusion of people with ID amongst adolescents and within particular contexts. As an exploratory study conducted in a single province of China, this study requires future investigations to examine causal mechanisms and national generalisability of the findings.