Factors Associated With Self-Concept: Adolescents With Intellectual and Development Disabilities Share their Perspectives

Abstract

How one perceives the self is critical to long-term development. The purpose of this study was to explore the self-perceptions of adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Participants included 51 adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their parents (n = 50), and teachers (n = 12). A mixed-methods design was used. Qualitative interviews revealed that although 55% of participants self-identified as having a disability, there was a lack of constructive or affirmative language used to describe disability. Overall, adolescents' understanding of disability appeared to be grounded in a deficit model. Quantitative analyses were used to explore demographic variables, adolescent' perception of parent support, and self-determination as possible predictors of global self-worth and social acceptance. Results indicate that family income and parent support are particularly salient for this population.

Parent Report of Conversations with Their Adolescents with Intellectual Disability

“…This point is further illustrated by results from previous research (Jones, ) with the current sample of adolescents. When interviewed about their understanding of self and disability, 55% of the adolescents applied labels of disability to themselves and many of those stated that their parent had told them about their disability (e.g.…”

“…The timing and context of these conversations may provide insight into adolescents' formation of identity and their own meaning‐making surrounding disability. Previous findings from adolescents in this sample (Jones, ) revealed that their knowledge of disability terminology (e.g. learning disability, mental retardation, intellectual disability) was grounded in a deficit model in which they understood disability through a framework of social exclusion or limited opportunity (e.g.…”

“…This study is a part of a larger research project, including adolescents with intellectual disability, their parents and their special education teachers. Two previous publications focused on adolescents' perspectives, including global self‐worth, self‐determination and the impact of special education classroom placement (Jones, ; Jones & Hensley, ). This study focuses on unpublished data from the same project with a specific focus on parent reports of conversations with their adolescents.…”

Social Cognition in Adolescent Girls With Fragile X Syndrome

“…Adolescents in general have hyper-acute perception of social life and their place within it (Sumter, Bokhorst, Steinberg, & Westenberg, 2009), suggesting they are quite able to identify their own social strengths and limitations. In a qualitative study by Jones (2012), adolescents with intellectual disabilities shared comments such as, “I hate being MR because people make fun of me” (p. 35), showing awareness of peer social judgments even in adolescents with impaired cognition. It should be noted that reports from girls in the FXS group, albeit within the average range, were statistically lower than those of typical peers (i.e., indicating a perception of less social acceptance).…”

Self‐concept in children with Down syndrome

“…The negative effects of internalized stigma may impair psychological well-being at many levels. Jones [2012] explored self-concept in adolescents with DID and found that those that self-identified as having a disability described themselves in negative terms. Overall, there was a lack of constructive and affirmative language used when participants described their disability.…”