Understanding resilience in college students with disabilities: an explanatory sequential mixed methods study

As an underrepresented group, college students with disabilities deserve to have their lived experiences explored and their genuine voices heard. Over time, researchers have demonstrated that resilience tends to be a protective factor for this population. Objective: Through this explanatory sequential mixed methods study, participants depicted their understanding and experiences of resilience, disability identity, and college student identity. More specifically, the researcher sought to uncover potential similarities and differences between college students with disabilities who were considered highly resilient with those who were less resilient. Method: This study occurred in two phases. Phase One included a survey with selfreport measures of resilience (CD-RISC-10) and disability identity development (DIDS) and demographic information, including about their specific disability. Then, participants who scored in the high (+1 SD) or low (-1 SD) resilience groups and were interested in interviewing were considered for Phase Two. 270 participants completed the survey, and four of them were quasirandomly selected for interviews. Results: Resilience and disability identity were positively but weakly correlated. Participants with psychological-, cognitive-, or learning-related disabilities tended to score lower on both the CD-RISC and DIDS compared to other groups of disabilities. There were also vast similarities and differences across interview participants and across those with high versus low levels resilience. Conclusion: Although all U.S. college students with disabilities have unique experiences, they also share similarities about having a disability, being in college, and being resilient, and it is necessary to conceptualize their experiences within their specific individual and environmental contexts.