Foundations of Rehabilitation Psychology
Rehabilitation psychology studies how disability, chronic illness, and injury interact with behavior, cognition, emotion, and social context, and it applies that knowledge to maximize participation and quality of life. Anchor your study in the field's conceptual models. The biopsychosocial model treats disability as the product of biological impairment, psychological factors, and social-environmental barriers; questions often test whether you can identify all three contributors in a vignette. The ICF framework (impairment, activity limitation, participation restriction, plus environmental and personal contextual factors) is frequently confused with older impairment-only models-watch for stems that describe participation restriction but label it an impairment. Understand adjustment to disability as a nonlinear process, not fixed stages; stage theories (shock, denial, anger, etc.) are a common trap because empirical evidence does not support rigid sequencing. Distinguish disability identity and quality of life from mere functional status: many people with stable disabilities report good quality of life, so questions implying inevitable depression or grief are usually wrong. Know the difference between recovery model (person-centered, strengths, hope) and medical model. Also review core constructs: self-efficacy, locus of control, catastrophizing, acceptance, and social support as mediators of outcome.
Worked rule of thumb: When a stem asks for the best conceptualization, choose the answer that names person + environment + participation, not the one that names only the diagnosis or only the coping style. If an option asserts a fixed emotional stage, treat it as a distractor.