Differences between self- and peer-rated likability in relation to social anxiety and depression in adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities.
Social anxiety makes teens with mild ID think they are disliked even when they are not, while depressed teens are actually disliked and feel even worse.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked teens with mild intellectual disability to rate how much they thought classmates liked them. They also asked classmates to rate the same teen. Then they compared the two scores.
Next they gave the teens short surveys on social anxiety and depression. They wanted to see if anxious or depressed teens saw themselves differently than peers saw them.
What they found
Teens with higher social anxiety thought peers liked them less, even when peers actually gave them high scores. Anxiety created a self-view gap.
Teens with higher depression really were liked less by peers and still rated themselves even lower. Depression showed both real rejection and extra self-downgrading.
How this fits with other research
Lecavalier et al. (2006) already showed that Likert-type scales work for self-report in mild ID only when you add pictures and pretests. M et al. used the same kind of scale, so their data are trustworthy.
McLennan et al. (2008) and Madden et al. (2003) validated anxiety and depression tools for adults with ID. M et al. moved the question to adolescents and added the social twist: anxiety bends self-view while depression mirrors real peer feedback.
Kaiser et al. (2022) found that self-report alone can look weak in IDD youth. M et al. avoided this trap by always pairing self-ratings with peer ratings, showing the value of two viewpoints.
Why it matters
If you only ask the teen, you might miss the reason for the low score. Anxious teens need help seeing accurate social feedback. Depressed teens need help both with mood and with real social skills. Always collect peer or teacher ratings before you write goals.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Social anxiety and depressive symptoms are relatively common in adolescents with Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disabilities (MBID). Unfortunately, there are only a few studies that focus on examining processes underlying social anxiety and depression in these adolescents. AIMS: The aim was to examine the differences between self- and peer-rated likability in relation to social anxiety and depression in the classroom environment. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: 631 normative non-clinical adolescents with MBID completed questionnaires to measure social anxiety, depression, and the estimation of their own likability by peers. Peer-reported likability was derived from peer-rating scales on likability. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Adolescents with higher levels of social anxiety significantly rated their own likability as lower than their non-anxious peers. However, socially adolescents were equally liked by their peers. Adolescents with higher levels of depression were significantly less liked by their peers, but still underestimated their own likability than adolescents with lower levels of depression. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Social anxiety and depression are linked to a biased interpretation of likability, but only depression is linked to actually being less liked by peers. Social anxiety and depression are partly based on similar underlying cognitive biases.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2018.05.016