Social networks of people with mild intellectual disabilities: characteristics, satisfaction, wishes and quality of life.
Warm, frequent contact with trusted family and staff drives life satisfaction for adults with mild ID, not a big friend list.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Austin et al. (2015) asked 67 young adults with mild intellectual disability about their social lives.
Each person listed who they knew, how often they met, and how close they felt.
They also rated their happiness with life overall.
What they found
Most were happy with their small, tight circles.
Warm ties with family, staff, or coworkers lifted life quality more than adding new friends.
How this fits with other research
Libero et al. (2016) looked at the same age group but asked parents, not the youth. Parents saw lower social well-being, showing that who answers matters.
McCauley et al. (2018) studied kids with both autism and ID. They found bigger social gaps than kids with ID alone, hinting that autism adds extra social hurdles.
Rutland et al. (1996) tracked older adults with ID. They saw far less contact and community use, warning that small networks can shrink over time.
Why it matters
You do not need to chase lots of new friends. Focus on warm, steady contact with the people already trusted—parents, siblings, job coaches. Check who fills that role for each client, then plan daily or weekly touchpoints. Warmth beats numbers.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: A supportive social network is crucial for facilitating social inclusion, which can, in turn, contribute to the quality of life (QOL) for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). In this study, we investigate how people with mild ID perceive their social networks and which network characteristics relate to satisfaction with the network and perceived QOL. METHOD: Data were gathered from 33 young adults with a mild to borderline ID using structured questionnaires: the MSNA to map the social network, the IDQOL-16 to assess QOL, and a questionnaire to determine satisfaction and wishes with regard to the social network. RESULTS: The majority of the participants (73.1%) were satisfied with their social networks. Improvement in the area of strengthening existing ties (e.g. more frequent contact, better contact) was desired as opposed to expansion of the network. Affection--especially towards family and professionals--was most strongly related to perceived QOL. It appears to be essential that relatives live in the same town, can frequently meet up and provide both emotional and practical support. CONCLUSIONS: The significance of family and the importance of high-quality interpersonal relationships between professional and client in the lives of young adults with ID cannot be overestimated. Although measures of satisfaction and wishes can have limitations, in actual practice it is considered useful to assess the opinions of clients with respect to their social networks. Interventions can then be tailored to the needs and wishes of the persons themselves.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2015 · doi:10.1111/jir.12143