Loneliness among students with special educational needs in mainstream seventh grade

Abstract

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. Over the last decades, worldwide educational policies concerning the education of students with special educational needs (SEN) have shifted in favor of inclusive education. In current literature, students with SEN are defined as ''students with various (combinations of) difficulties in participating in education (Pijl, Frostad, & Flem, 2008, p. 389)''. As stated in Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability of 2006, inclusive education aims to provide effective individualized support in environments ''that maximize academic and social development, consistent with the goal of full inclusion'' (United Nations, 2006). Belgium is one of the states that signed the Convention. In the federal state of Belgium, each community has its own education system (De Ro, 2008). Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, has long been known for its two-track education system (i.e., special and regular education system are two distinct systems; Meijer, 2003). The goals of this study were twofold. The first aim was to explore loneliness prevalence in typically developing students, students with ASD and students with motor and/or sensory disabilities in mainstream 7th grade in Belgium. The second aim was to explore the relations between number of friends, friendship quality, social self-concept on the one hand and loneliness on the other for each of these three groups, and to compare them across groups. In this study, 108 students with special educational needs (SEN; i.e., 58 students with ASD and 50 students with motor and/or sensory disabilities) were matched to 108 typically developing classmates. Students with ASD reported more loneliness than typically developing students and students with motor and/or sensory disabilities. Loneliness prevalence for typically developing students and students with motor and/or sensory disabilities did not differ significantly. Factors related with loneliness differed between typically developing students and students with SEN (i.e., students with ASD and students with motor and/or sensory disabilities). For students with SEN, same-sex social self-concept was related with loneliness, but not, as for typically developing students, number of friends and opposite-sex social self-concept. Also friendship quality had a marginally significant effect on loneliness feelings for students with SEN. Implications for further research and practice are discussed. ß

Evaluation of a short version of the Illinois Loneliness and Social Satisfaction Scale in a sample of students with and without special educational needs – an empirical study with primary and secondary students in Austria

“…The same‐sex social self‐concept correlated more strongly with loneliness than the opposite‐sex social self‐concept in all groups, which concurs with the results of, for example, Bossaert et al. (). However, for secondary school students without special educational needs, Bossaert et al.…”

Social dimensions of inclusion in education of 4th and 7th grade pupils in inclusive and regular classes: Outcomes from Austria

“…Pijl & Frostad, 2010;Ruijs & Peetsma, 2009;Schwab, 2014). Further, a negative outcome for students with SEN was demonstrated concerning the self-perception of social participation and these results concur with those of, e.g., Bossaert et al (2012) and Schwab (2015a). Summarising, the present study indicates that students with SEN are at a high risk for low social participation, even though the social inclusion of students with SEN has received much attention over the past years.…”

“…Focusing on feelings of loneliness, it is quite clear that students with SEN report more loneliness (e.g., Bossaert et al, 2012;Schwab, 2015a). Concentrating on the self-perceptions of social integration, it can be concluded that students with SEN rate it lower than students without SEN (Schwab, 2014) or equally high (e.g., Koster et al, 2010;Schwab, 2014).…”

I agree to sit next to you. Does that mean I like you? Measuring using the wrong tapeline – the lack of ‘Social Distance’ measures for inclusive school development and research – a review of the literature

“…Current research shows negative social outcomes for children with disabilities compared to the social integration of children without disabilities (Bakker and Bosman, ; Bless and Mohr, ; Bossaert, Colpin, Pijl, et al., ; Frederickson and Funham, ; Haerberlin, ; Huber, ; Huber and Wilbert, ; Kavale & Forness, ; Lindsay, ; Ruijs, Peetsma and van der Veen, ; Schwab, ). However, we need to be very careful with this interpretation considering the partly inappropriate and fragmentary way of quantifying this phenomena.…”