Psychological Adjustment in Adolescents with Vision Impairment

Abstract

The present study compared psychological adjustment of 158 adolescents with vision impairment and 158 sighted adolescents with a matched-pair design using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Adolescent self-reports and teacher reports on emotional problems, peer problems, and total difficulties showed higher scores in students with vision impairment than in sighted students. However, the size of between-group differences was small, and adolescents who are blind and their peers with low vision showed similar levels of psychological adjustment. In addition, older students reported more emotional problems than younger students. Furthermore, differences between self-reported emotional problems of students with and without vision impairment were stronger in older participants. In both groups, girls showed more emotional problems and less conduct problems than boys. We conclude that most students with vision impairment are well adjusted but a minority may benefit from psychological interventions.

Keywords:

• adjustment
• adolescence
• blindness
• conduct problems
• emotional problems
• peer relations
• prosocial behaviour
• psychological health
• vision impairment

Acknowledgements

The present study was supported by a grant from the German Research Council (grant Pi291/9-1). No restrictions have been imposed on free access to, or publication of, the research data. Opinions reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agencies. The authors had no financial or other conflicts of interest.