An examination of the psychosocial factors impacting workplace accommodation requests in individuals with mental disabilities

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Individuals with mental health issues experience profound stigma and discrimination, which may contribute to a lack of accommodation utilization to address functional limitations of their work. OBJECTIVES: This study examined how psychosocial factors may predict the request of accommodations by employed individuals with mental disabilities through the framework of social cognitive career theory. METHODS: In the United States, 148 employed adults with mental disabilities completed an online questionnaire to ascertain self-efficacy, outcome expectation, affect, and workplace support. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between respondents’ psychosocial factors and request of accommodations. RESULTS: Psychosocial factors (i.e., self-efficacy in accommodation request, outcome expectancy in employers’ compliance with accommodation request, and non-person cost associated with request) were associated with impacting decisions to request accommodations among individuals with mental disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: A focus on bolstering self-efficacy and outcome expectation may assist rehabilitation professionals with facilitating positive occupational outcomes for individuals with mental disabilities. Incorporating increased education on the possible implications of mental disabilities in the workplace may also promote successful employment outcomes.