Social networks of visually impaired and blind adolescents. Structure and effect on well-being

In this article, we examine the social networks of visually impaired and blind adolescents. Data were collected about the size and structure of their network, their subjective evaluation of the network, happiness, loneliness, and a number of individual characteristics. These results are compared with the results of comparable studies on non-handicapped adolescents. Multilevel analysis was used to describe structural and functional aspects of the personal networks. In addition, a structural equation model was used to examine if individual characteristics, including sociodemographic and vision-related characteristics, predict the aspects of the network, and if individual and network characteristics predict well-being. Well-being depends more on network aspects than on individual characteristics. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. 1. The importance of a personal network for visually impaired adolescents Support received from social networks can buffer stress and improve coping in all stages of life. Many studies have stressed the close relationships among personal Ž network characteristics and the mental and physical health of adults Cohen and Wills, . 1985; Cauce et al., 1994; Robinson, 1995 . The size and composition of the network, closeness to other people, satisfaction, but also conflicts within networks are all Ž . important Samuelsson, 1997 . Social support to children and adolescents protects them from the negative effects on their mental health when they are exposed to stress, and Ž support improves well-being, self-esteem and self-assurance Heller et al., 1986; Sarason . et al., 1990 . Family support is very important, but so is the support of friends and other Ž . adults Robinson, 1995 . ) Corresponding author. Wibautstraat 4, NL-1091 GM Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel.: q31-20-5251566; fax: q31-20-5251200. Ž . E-mail address: [email protected] S. Kef . 0378-8733r00r$ see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S0378-8733 00 00022-8 ( ) S. Kef et al.rSocial Networks 22 2000 73–91 74 Our study is part of a larger project concerning the meaning of personal networks and social supports for the psychosocial adjustment of blind and visually impaired adolesŽ . cents in the Netherlands Kef, 1997, 1999; Kef et al., 1997 . The theoretical framework of this study is based on the socio-ecological model, also called the psychosocial Ž . approach Bronfenbrenner, 1979 . In a socio-ecological model, development is influŽ enced by personal individual factors, in interaction with environmental factors Van der . Ploeg and Scholte, 1990; Buysse, 1997 . Three main subsystems within the social environment are distinguished in this model: the family, the school and the peer group. These subsystems form the social network of an adolescent. Furthermore, factors within the person — psychosocial characteristics — and macro-social factors — like unemŽ . ployment, social economical status SES and biological disabilities-are distinguished in the model. Besides the distinction in factors concerning the person, the social environment and demographic and macro-social factors, a second distinction in this socio-ecological model is the one between risk factors and protective factors. Examples of risk factors are: severe family conflict, receiving little social support, low self-esteem and ineffective coping skills. Examples of protective factors are: a supportive peer group and a positive Ž . personal disposition Buysse, 1997 . This article addresses the question about what the differences are within the personal networks of blind and visually impaired adolescents, whether these differences depend on individual characteristics, and whether they affect the well-being of these adolescents. Furthermore, visually impaired adolescents will be compared with non-impaired adolescents. More precisely, the research questions are: 1. What are the structural and functional aspects of the personal networks of blind and visual impaired adolescents, compared with those of sighted adolescents? 2. Do differences in personal networks of blind and visually impaired adolescents depend on sex, age, socioeconomic status, living situation, degree of impairment or dependency in mobility? 3. What is the influence of differences in structural and functional network aspects on well-being? 1.1. Personal networks: structural and functional aspects Research on networks usually distinguishes between structural and functional netŽ work aspects House et al., 1988; Sarason et al., 1990; Tracy and Whittaker, 1990; . Buysse, 1997; , which are also described as quantitative and qualitative aspects of the personal network. Important structural aspects in theory and research are the size and composition of the network. Other structural aspects are accessibility, durability or length of relationships and density of a network. Functional network aspects refer to the quality and the content of a relationship. They refer to aspects like social support, Ž . reciprocity balance of support provided and support received , intimacy and satisfaction with support. ( ) S. Kef et al.rSocial Networks 22 2000 73–91 75 Social support, both emotional and practical, is a central functional network aspect. Here, a distinction can be made between perceived and received social support. Perceived social support is an individual’s assessment of the social support, based on the subjective interpretation of supportive interpersonal transactions, and the personal meanings the individual attaches to them. Received social support is the actual amount of support obtained from specific persons in a specific period, such as the amount of Ž . parental support in the past six months Cauce et al., 1994 . A second important functional aspect is satisfaction; satisfaction is an individual general evaluation of the Ž . perceived and received support Antonucci and Akiyama, 1994 . 1.2. Personal network and Õisually impaired persons It is generally recognized that both the visual loss itself, as well as its subsequent effects, cause unique difficulties in the emergence of a positive self-image, and confront Ž . impaired children and adolescents with considerable challenges Cook-Clampert, 1981 , especially regarding social contacts. These challenges are mediated by various factors: intrapersonal, interpersonal and situational factors. The impaired or sick person could feel that hershe has nothing to offer to other persons, other persons may be afraid of the illness or become burnt out, or a social stigma could cause negative reactions towards ill or impaired persons. Illness or disability involves a unique set of stressors, like unpredictability and social stigma. Stressors like these place substantial constraints on Ž . the ability to maintain and to restructure relationships Lyons et al., 1995 . Several studies examined the networks of persons who where chronically ill or had a Ž . physical disability. Their results regarding the effects of disability on relationships are Ž . summarized by Lyons et al. 1995 : reduced network size, reduced social contacts, changes in social space, remodeling of the network, including other persons with health problems and professionals in the network, higher percentage of kin members, lower number of friends, less shared activities, and increased value of relationships. Earlier research by one of us shows that visually impaired Dutch adults feel dependent on other Ž . persons and have lack of mobility and social contacts Habekothe and Peters, 1993 . ́ Several American studies investigated the personal network of visually impaired Ž . individuals. Weiner 1991 conducted a study of the social support networks of blind and visually impaired young adults in the United States. The size of their personal network was on average 10 persons. A large network was best predicted by the Ž . variables: having a job, a high level of mastery locus of control, being blind and being female. The most important sources of support were family and friends, with a great Ž . dependency on family for social support Weiner, 1991 . Ž . A recent study Wolffe and Sacks, 1997; Sacks and Wolffe, 1998 of 16 blind, 16 low vision and 16 sighted students — matched on age, sex, ethnicity, school grade, and geographic location — found that to live independently, visually impaired students required more support than sighted students. However, they had fewer friends that could provide support to them. Ž . Rosenblum 1997 describes a pilot study among 22 visually impaired adolescents aged 13–19. The study found that the female respondents and the 13–15-year-old respondents had more intimate friendships than did the male respondents and the ( ) S. Kef et al.rSocial Networks 22 2000 73–91 76 16–19-year-old respondents. Only a few reported that their visual impairment affected what they did with their friends. The average size of the networks of visually impaired adolescents in Finland proved to be slightly smaller than that of adolescents without impairment, but the difference did Ž . not reach statistical significance Huurre and Aro, 1998 . The average composition of networks of Finnish adolescents with a visual impairment and that of a comparison group sighted adolescents was quite similar. However, visually impaired adolescents less often had many friends, and they had less often dating experiences than sighted adolescents. Parents seemed slightly more supportive than friends for visually impaired Finnish adolescents. No difference was found on the amount of parental support between Ž . visually impaired adolescents and sighted adolescents Huurre et al., 1999 .