Young adults with intellectual disability, their relatives, and the Internet: perceptions and use during COVID-19 confinement in Spain

ABSTRACT

This investigation explored the use of the Internet in Spain by young adults with intellectual disability who were active Internet users, as well as their perceptions and those of their relatives about the Internet’s potential benefits and risks for this population. Additionally, this study explored changes in these perceptions and the Internet use during the home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 35 young adults with intellectual disability and one of their relatives, respectively (i.e. 35 relatives), completed an online survey during May 2020. Results indicated that young people with intellectual disability are aware of the potential risks to a limited extent. In addition, the participants with intellectual disability increased their Internet use and their perception of its benefits during confinement. However, their relatives gave greater importance to the potential risks, but scarcely supervised young adults with intellectual disability when accessing the Internet. We conclude that, beyond computer literacy and web access skills, young people with intellectual disability may need further training on how to identify and deal with the potential risks of the Internet use, and how to maximise its potential benefits. We also highlight the need to provide their relatives with more educational resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Young adults with intellectual disability
• Internet benefits and risks
• Internet use
• relatives
• COVID-19 confinement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Additional social restrictions were applied again during the second semester of 2020 and the first semester of 2021 due to new outbreaks. They were less strict and varied between Spanish regions.

2 Official diagnosis of intellectual disability in Spain is based on DSM-5 criteria (American Psychiatric Association 2013)

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Social Fund [grant number EDU2017-87626-P].