The telephone survey conducted by psychologists from the University of Zadar on a representative sample of 600 adults shows that 86% of respondents feel somewhat or completely comfortable in the proximity of children with developmental disabilities.
93% said they make contact with such children when they meet and 70% said they have no social distance towards children with disabilities.
Women feel more comfortable around them than men. Individuals with lower education levels and of an older age express greater social distance, but older people are more open in their contacts with children with disabilities.
The attitude towards children with developmental disabilities is largely determined by levels of knowledge, with individuals with the lowest level of knowledge showing the greatest social distance, feeling the highest level of discomfort and seldom coming into contact with such children.
The results of the survey are encouraging, showing a positive trend in the change of the attitude towards children with developmental disabilities. While the traditional form of prejudice includes an open expression of negative views, the modern form includes refusal to show prejudice because of social undesirability, the authors noted.
Positive attitudes are more present in younger people and negative ones in the elderly, which is certainly the result of the inclusive education that has been promoted in Croatia over the last 30 years, they said.
The survey revealed that having or not having a child with disabilities in the family did not affect the respondents' attitudes as 5.7% of them had a child with disabilities, 7.1% had it in their immediate family and 8.1% in their extended family.
The results show that children with disabilities are well accepted in Croatian society and highlight the role of knowledge and contact in combating the stigmatisation of vulnerable groups.