Considerable research has investigated self-esteem in children and adolescents with physical disabilities; however, research regarding young adults attending post-secondary school is limited. This study examined self-esteem among young adults with physical disabilities who attended university or college and those who have never attended any post-secondary school program and investigated the factors that contribute to both low and high self-esteem among this population. Specifically, this study aimed to determine if young adults with and without physical disabilities differed in levels of self-esteem and if so, in which domains they differed. The study also investigated whether males and females with physical disabilities differed in their level of self-esteem and if their level of education affected their level of self-esteem. The difference in self-esteem among young adults with congenital and acquired physical disabilities and how the level of social support affects self-esteem were also explored. One hundred and twenty participants, between the ages of 18--23, participated in this study. Sixty participants were females and sixty participants were males. Fifty percent of the participants had an orthopedic physical disability and 50% did not have an orthopedic physical disability. From the population with physical disabilities, 50% had a congenital physical disability and 50% had an acquired physical disability. All participants had graduated high school, were able to communicate verbally, had no other physical disability such as diabetes, asthma, blindness or deafness and did not have a history of any other disability such an acquired brain injury, or a psychiatric disorder which had required hospitalization. This study contained six groups: participants attending university with and without physical disabilities, participants attending college with and without physical disabilities, and participants with and participants not attending post-secondary school without physical disabilities. The participants completed Harter's Self-Perception Profile for College Students, the Social Support Scale for College Students and the Functional Independence Scale. The participants also participated in a personal interview and 39 participants also took part in focus groups. This study found that, on the whole, young adults with and without physical disabilities had similar global self-esteem. However, specific analysis of the domains indicated that young adults with physical disabilities had lower self-esteem than young adults without physical disabilities in the domains of social acceptance, appearance, romantic relationships, athletics and social acceptance importance. It appeared that one's level of education and success in education play a role in the development of global self-esteem as participants attending university had higher global self-esteem and self-esteem in the domains of scholastic competence, close friendships, intellectual ability, morality, morality importance and athletic importance than young adults not attending post-secondary school. Furthermore, young adults attending college had higher self-esteem in the domain of social acceptance importance than young adults not attending post-secondary school.
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