Author
WEBSTER Amanda A.; CARTER Mark;
Title
Social relationships and friendships of children with developmental disabilities: implications for inclusive settings. A systematic review.
Journal citation/publication details
Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 32(3), September 2007, pp.200-213.
Summary
Thirty-six, mainly North American, studies are covered in this primarily descriptive review or map of the literature on social relationships between developmentally disabled and typically developing children. Three areas are covered: features of social relationships; types of social relationships; and friendship. The inadequacy of the evidence base in this field is revealed in terms of scope, context and methodology.
Context
Children with moderate to severe developmental disabilities are increasingly educated in mainstream schools, and there is an expectation that they will develop friendships and other social relationships with their developmentally normal peers. This study aims to provide an overview of research in this field.
Methods
What sources were used?
The following databases were searched: ERIC (Education Resources Information Center); PsycLIT; and Sociological Abstracts. The reference lists of relevant studies were also checked.
What search terms/strategies were used?
Two sets of terms were employed, describing participants (children, child, disability, disabilities, handicapped, autism) and relationships (social relationships, peer relationships, friendship).
What criteria were used to decide on which studies to include?
Studies were included if they provide a ‘naturalistic examination’ of the relationships of children with developmental disabilities and peers encountered in school or other age-appropriate educational settings. The age range was from three years to school exit, and encounters could be facilitated by parents or researchers. Studies involving children with a single physical, sensory or learning impairment were excluded, as were studies of: interventions designed to facilitate social relationships; social skills development; attitudes towards children with disabilities; and the effect of inclusive educational settings on behaviour.
Who decided on their relevance and quality?
No details are provided of the yield from the searches, or subsequent filtering. Quality assessments were not used as the basis of including or excluding studies, but the authors do comment on methodological issues.
How many studies were included and where were they from?
Thirty-six studies are reviewed, and are summarised in Table 1. Geographical origins are not given but the authors note that most studies are North American and focus on middle class, White populations.
How were the study findings combined?
The studies are primarily observational or interview-based, and the synthesis is primarily a descriptive mapping exercise.
Findings of the review
Features of relationships
Research in this area has focused on issues such as the impact of different environments on the development of relationships between developmentally disabled children and their normally developing peers; individual perceptions of the important dimensions of relationships; and the measurement of behaviours associated with interactions between children. Not all of these studies were conducted in inclusive settings and several are inadequate in respect of design, sample size or other methodological factors. The reviewers suggest that ‘to date, relationships between children with disabilities and their peers have primarily been described in qualitative studies that may serve as a starting-point for further research’ to address the overall dimensions and specific behavioural indicators of such relationships.
Roles and types of relationships
Social relationships between typically developing children have been extensively examined, but in the case of developmentally disabled children studies have been more concerned with classifying relationships based on roles or behaviours. They include case studies in both inclusive and segregated settings. This body of research is described as ‘limited both in scope and in the application of systematic methodology’. Data collection was primarily based on anecdote and informal interview rather than the systematic measurement of behaviour necessary to provide robust evidence.
Friendship
Friendship is taken to be the most important form of social relationship, and there is a ‘reasonable amount of research’ investigating its dimensions and stages in typically developing children. There is, however, virtually none that has applied this knowledge to friendships between typically developing and developmentally disabled children. Most research is designed to establish whether or not friendships exist in different settings, and has focused on peer acceptance or the impact of different environments on the formation of friendships. Some more recent case studies have provided preliminary descriptions of friendships between typically developing and developmentally disabled children in inclusive settings, but these have not employed any systematic measures to gauge whether these relationships meet any traditional definition of friendship.
Authors' conclusions
This review illustrates that the literature on social relationships of typically developing children is ‘quite comprehensive’ and has employed systematic methods to establish the dimensions and characteristics of relationships between children of different genders, ages and cultures. ‘It is equally evident that parallel research has not been conducted with children with disabilities.’ Research is patchy and limited in context: for example, of the 15 studies reporting data obtained entirely from inclusive settings, nine were derived from a single participatory research project and four were conducted in quasi-laboratory settings. Many studies are methodologically inadequate in other respects, for example: employing sociometric measures that measure peer acceptance rather than friendship; focusing on only one child in a pair; or utilising very cursory observational measures.
A more rigorous evidence base is need to inform intervention studies, and future research in this field could usefully build on the methods of research already used with typically developing children.
Implications for policy or practice
None are discussed.