"Eventually I'm gonna need people": Social capital among college students with developmental disability.
College women with developmental disabilities told researchers that give-and-take friendships are worth fighting for, especially when a crisis closes campus life.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hoyle et al. (2022) talked with college women who have developmental disabilities. They asked how the students built and kept friends during the COVID-19 campus shut-downs.
The team used open interviews. They looked for repeating ideas about giving and getting help, things that got in the way, and steps the students took to meet new people.
What they found
Three clear themes came out. First, the women saw friendships as two-way streets: they wanted to help, not just be helped. Second, online classes and closed dorms made starting ties harder. Third, being stuck at home pushed many to text first, join virtual clubs, or ask classmates to study on Zoom.
One student said, 'Eventually I'm gonna need people.' That line became the title. It sums up why they kept trying even when screens replaced cafeterias.
How this fits with other research
Swettenham et al. (2013) studied brothers and sisters of adults with IDD. They also found that give-and-take matters. Both papers show that lasting ties rest on mutual exchange, not one-sided care.
de Korte et al. (2021) talked to Dutch mothers of younger children with IDD during the same pandemic. Those moms felt alone and overloaded. Hoyle et al. (2022) extends that picture by showing the students themselves felt isolated but took active steps to fix it. Same storm, different boats.
Higgins et al. (2021) asked parents of children with language disorder what helps inclusion. Parents said they had to push doors open for their kids. The college women in Hoyle et al. (2022) ended up doing the pushing themselves. Together the studies trace a path: early parent advocacy can turn into self-advocacy by young adulthood.
Why it matters
If you coach teens or adults with DD, stop teaching only social scripts. Add lessons on how to start mutual help: share notes, trade favors, co-plan a project. Ask, 'Who could you help this week?' The N study shows students value friendships where they contribute, not just receive. Build that expectation early and you give clients a reason to reach out, even when the next crisis hits.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: About 18% of college students have disabilities. Social capital, resources we can tap from relationships, may be particularly valuable for students with disabilities. Yet, disabilities often limit the individual's ability to develop or use social capital. We studied how college students with developmental disabilities understand, develop, and use social capital. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: We conducted in-depth semi-structured Zoom interviews with 10 women with developmental disabilities enrolled at a public university in the southeastern United States early in 2021. We examined the qualitative data with thematic analysis. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Participants averaged age 20; 70% reported attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; 90% reported multiple diagnoses. Most participants described COVID-19 pandemic-related isolation and stress, which magnified both the need for relationships and awareness of that need, prompting participants to become proactive in forming and maintaining relationships despite anxiety about them. Themes were: foundational relationships, reciprocity, expanding horizons, a need for new relationships, focus on the future and relationship barriers. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Results highlight the importance of social relationships and the resources they provide to students with disabilities, particularly in stressful times. Colleges can help students by connecting them with others and providing strategies for building and maintaining social capital. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: College students with developmental disabilities often face challenges developing and maintaining social capital, resources derived from relationships with other people. These resources are key to success in school and after graduation, as students continue into adulthood. We studied how students with developmental disabilities build social capital. The students described their relationships with others and the types of support they contributed to and received from those relationships. We also extended previous research by examining pandemic-related effects, interviewing participants nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide recommendations for further research and ways colleges and universities can encourage social capital development among all students.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104270