The relationship between adaptation to disability, and sexual and body esteem in women with polio

Sexuality in women with long-term disabilities and chronic illnesses is an emergent focus of inquiry in the fields of disability and aging. Rehabilitation counseling and counseling practice in general often neglect this important quality of life area. Women with visible disabilities also confront the challenges of a change in physical appearance that has, historically, characterized them as asexual in media portrayals and by health care practitioners. The internalization of impressions of how she looks to others can cause a change in body image and limit engagement in intimate relationships. This can be further compounded by any physical limitations that restrict functional activities, such as the capacity to adequately take care of personal needs or engage in sexual activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between adaptation to disability and functional status on sexual and body esteem in a national sample of women with polio. The additional variables of length of time since polio diagnosis, self-reported visibility of disability, and history of sexual abuse were included as well, since theory indicates that these could be factors that also affect sexual health.;This investigation is one of the first in the field of rehabilitation counseling to utilize Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as a method to analyze some of the multidimensional components that affect sexual and body esteem in women with disabilities.;Results of the study indicate that functional status, as measured by the Activities of Daily Living subscale of the Functional Status Questionnaire (Jette & Davies, 1986) is a significant predictor of sexual and body esteem, as is the capacity for women with polio to view the disability in perspective, and not a characteristic that defines or limits her potential to achieve goals, or expand her values beyond a self-comparison to other women without disabilities (Acceptance of Disability Scale-Revised, Groomes & Linkowski, 2004). Visibility of disability, length of time since polio diagnosis and history of sexual abuse were not seen as significant predictors of sexual and body esteem in this study.;The examination of sexual and body esteem in women with disabilities is a research area that holds great promise for scholarship that will enable rehabilitation counselors to more effectively help consumers enjoy a heightened quality of life.;Polio survivors represent a unique population. Not only are women with polio better educated than the general population, but the advent of Post-Polio Syndrome occurs decades after the initial diagnosis and often results in adjustment to a variety of new and severe secondary disabilities.