Loneliness in young adults with a visual impairment: Links with perceived social support in a twenty-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Young people with disabilities are more at risk of experiencing loneliness in later life than their typically developing peers. AIM: To identify those who become lonely in later life, trajectories of perceived parent and peer support from adolescence to adulthood of young people with a visual impairment were studied. METHODS: A total of 316 adolescents (M = 18 years; SD = 6.5) enrolled in a cohort study in 1996; 205 of them participated in 2005, 178 in 2010, and 161 in 2016. Latent growth curve models were fitted to the data. RESULTS: Perceived parent support followed a linear decreasing course. No association was found between perceived parent support and loneliness in later life. For perceived peer support a quadratic growth pattern was found, with an increase in peer support up to age 27, and thereafter a decrease. Both the initial level and the rate of change in perceived peer support significantly predicted loneliness in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: The course of peer support is a better indicator for the risk of loneliness in later life than support from parents. Normative life transitions may affect the already vulnerable social support for young people with a visual impairment. This study highlights the importance of establishing and maintaining peer relationships throughout life.

Improving social participation of adolescents with a visual impairment with community-based mentoring: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: The efficacy of a community-based mentoring program for adolescents with a visual impairment vs. care-as-usual was tested on social participation including satisfaction with social support.Materials and methods: Adolescents (15-22 years; 46% boys) were randomized to an intervention group with mentors with visual impairment (N = 25), an intervention group with mentors without visual impairment (N = 26), or care-as-usual (N = 25). One-on-one mentoring activities regarded school/work, leisure activities, and social relationships.Results and conclusions: Multilevel growth modelling revealed no effect of mentoring on changes in social participation compared to the care-as-usual group (participation [95% CI -0.30, 0.21, d = 0.1]; social participation composite [95% CI -0.24, 0.26, d = 0.24]). Mentees matched to mentors with visual impairments increased more on satisfaction with their social support compared to mentees matched to mentors without impairments and the care-as-usual group [95% CI 0.02, 0.49, d = 0.38]. Age, characteristics of the impairment, and number of match meetings were not associated with change in social participation during the mentoring program. This evaluation showed no benefit of mentoring for social participation of adolescents with a visual impairment. The value of mentors and mentees sharing the same disability needs further investigation. This trial is registered in the Netherlands Trial Register NTR4768.Implications for rehabilitationA community-based mentoring program resulted in no benefits for adolescents with a visual impairment on their social participation.A community-based mentoring program should not replace care-as-usual provided to young people with a visual impairment in the Netherlands. It could only be thought of as an additional service within rehabilitation.Matching mentees and mentors based on sharing the same disability could strengthen the effect of a community-based mentoring program. However, these benefits are rather small.Providing additional support for the social participation of young people with a visual impairment might be especially helpful for those with a progressive impairment and with comorbid problems.

Does having a similar disability matter for match outcomes?: A randomized study of matching mentors and mentees by visual impairment.

Mentoring is modestly effective for youth with a chronic illness or physical disability; however, program effectiveness may be enhanced when mentors and mentees are matched on shared interests and experiences. To test this hypothesis, mentees were randomly assigned to having a mentor with or without visual impairment (VI). Results showed that mentors without VI were younger and more likely to work or be educated in a helping profession and less likely to have a fixed mindset and extremely high positive expectations than mentors with VI. The main analyses on match outcomes showed that mentors with VI had significantly fewer and shorter match meetings, had a weaker relationship with their mentees, and were more likely to end their match prematurely. Mentor age, helping profession background, and fixed mindset were confounds in several analyses and reduced the significance of the relationship between VI group and match meeting quantity. The only relationship that remained significant controlling for covariates showed that matches including a mentor with VI were significantly more likely to end in premature closure than matches including a mentor without VI. Implications of the findings for future research and program practices related to matching were discussed.

Testing the effectiveness of a mentoring intervention to improve social participation of adolescents with visual impairments: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Social participation is challenging for people with visual impairments. As a result, on average, social networks are smaller, romantic relationships formed later, educational achievements lower, and career prospects limited. Adolescents on their way towards achieving these goals may benefit from the knowledge and experience of adults who have overcome similar difficulties. Therefore, a mentoring intervention, called Mentor Support, will be set up and studied in which adolescents with visual impairments are matched with successfully social participating adults with and without visual impairments. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Mentor Support. Secondary aims are to distinguish the importance of the disability-specific experience of mentors, predictors of success, and mediating factors. METHODS/DESIGN: The effect of Mentor Support will be tested in a randomized clinical trial, using pre-test one week before starting, post-test after 12 months, and follow-up after 18 months. Participants will be referred to one of the experimental groups or the control group, and this randomization will be stratified according to country region. Three groups are included in the trial: 40 participants will receive Mentor Support by mentors with a visual impairment in combination with care-as-usual, 40 participants will receive Mentor Support by mentors without visual impairments in combination with care-as-usual, and 40 participants will receive care-as-usual only. Mentor Support consists of 12 face-to-face meetings of the mentee with a mentor with an overall time period of one year. On a weekly basis, dyads have contact via email, the Internet, or telephone. The primary outcome measure is improved social participation within three domains (work/school, leisure activities, and social relationships). Mediator variables are psychosocial functioning and self-determination. Predictors such as demographics and personality are also investigated in order to distinguish the pathways to successful social participation. Intention-to-treat and completer analyses will be conducted. DISCUSSION: The primary outcomes of this trial regard increased social participation. The study may yield insights to further improve effects of support programs to adolescents with visual impairments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register NTR4768 (registered 4 September 2014).