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Clinical Psychology and Special Education
2025. Vol. 14, no. 3, 66–85
doi:10.17759/cpse.2025140305
ISSN: 2304-0394 (online)

Inclusive clothing as a factor in psychological well-being of people with disabilities

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. Social adaptation and rehabilitation of people with disabilities is a nationally significant task aimed at self-realization in various spheres, improving the quality of life and the level of psychological well-being of Russians with disabilities. The inability to find comfortable and functional clothing that meets the needs and living conditions of people with disabilities becomes an obstacle to their participation in society and affects many areas of life, including education, employment, and close relationships. Objective. To determine the role of inclusive clothing in supporting the psychological well-being and quality of life of people with disabilities. Hypothesis. Inclusive clothing made taking into account the nosology and individual characteristics of people with disabilities is a factor in increasing the psychological well-being of an individual. Methods and materials. The study involved 505 people with disabilities aged 19 to 76 years (M = 37.17; SD = 15.6); 55% women, 45% men); 76% with visual impairments (n = 386), 15% with musculoskeletal disorders (n = 76), 9% with autism spectrum disorders (n = 43). Experimental work related to the production and use of inclusive clothing was conducted on a sample of 30 people with various nosologies. The methodological design included the Scale of Psychological Well-Being, the questionnaire of quality of life and satisfaction, the questionnaire “The influence of body image on quality of life”, a multi-component questionnaire of attitude to one’s own body, author’s semi-structured interview. Results. Significant differences in the level of psychological well-being, quality of life, attitude to one’s own body in people with different nosologies were revealed. Respondents with visual impairment and musculoskeletal disorders showed similar results at the level of average values, the studied parameters were expressed significantly lower in people with autism spectrum disorder. Wearing experimental models of inclusive clothing, made taking into account the nosology, showed significant shifts in the level of psychological well-being and the severity of its components in people with musculoskeletal disorders and visual impairment. There is dynamics in people with autism spectrum disorder, but it is not significant, which is associated with the duration of the adaptation processes of this category of respondents. Conclusions. Inclusive clothing performs various functions (provides comfort, protective, camouflage, compensatory, self-expression function) and is a factor in increasing the psychological well-being of people with disabilities. However, the effect of its use is individual and depends on the nosology.

General Information

Keywords: psychological well-being, quality of life, life satisfaction, body image, inclusive clothing, people with disabilities

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2025140305

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project number 24-28-20297, https://rscf.ru/en/project/24-28-20297/.

Received 19.03.2025

Revised 13.06.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Samokhvalova, A.G., Shipova, N.S., Chagina, L.L., Rogova, K.I. (2025). Inclusive clothing as a factor in psychological well-being of people with disabilities. Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 14(3), 66–85. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2025140305

© Samokhvalova A.G., Shipova N.S., Chagina L.L., Rogova K.I., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Anna G. Samokhvalova, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Director of the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, Kostroma State University, Kostroma, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4401-053X, e-mail: a_samohvalova@kosgos.ru

Natalya S. Shipova, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Associate Professor, Department of Special Pedagogy and Psychology, Kostroma State University, Kostroma, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0741-1297, e-mail: ronia_777@mail.ru

Lyubov L. Chagina, Doctor of Engineering, Professor of the Department of Design, Technology, Materials Science and Expertise of Consumer Goods, Kostroma State University, Kostroma, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0351-8177, e-mail: lyu-chagina@yandex.ru

Ksenia I. Rogova, Junior Researcher, Kostroma State University, Kostroma, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9192-052X, e-mail: ksenia.rogova.imber75@yandex.ru

Contribution of the authors

Anna G. Samokhvalova — the idea of the study; annotating, writing, and drafting the manuscript; study planning; study concept development; meaningful interpretation of study results and formulation of conclusions.

Natalya S. Shipova —– collection of empirical data; review of foreign and domestic studies on the studied problem; selection of the methodological complex; statistical processing of quantitative data; visualization of the study results.

Lyubov L. Chagina — monitoring the conduct of the study; collecting empirical data; developing models and making inclusive clothing; planning and conducting the experiment.

Ksenia I. Rogova — collection of empirical data; sewing inclusive clothes.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and agreed on the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Kostroma State University (report no. 7 dated 12 May 2024).

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