Friendships and patterns of social leisure participation among Norwegian adolescents with Down syndrome

Abstract

Background A first generation of adolescents with Down syndrome have grown up in Norway's inclusive society. This study explored their friendships and social leisure participation, mainly as it is reflected through their subjective experience. Method The analysis is based on qualitative interviews and observations of 22 teens aged 17 years. Results Generally, the adolescents described their social life as rich and varied, occurring in several contexts with different companions. Their thoughts of friendships were quite extensive, also including less close relationships. Three main contextual patterns of social participation were revealed: (a) the family at home pattern, (b) the peer group pattern and (c) the arranged company pattern. The relationship between the national policy on social inclusion and these findings is discussed. Conclusion To understand the barriers and opportunities in the social life of Norwegian adolescents with Down syndrome, it is essential to acknowledge the extent of their experiences with friendship and the characteristics of their social participation patterns.

The nature and quality of friendship for older adults with an intellectual disability in Ireland

“…These findings support the recent literature which found that communication ability is associated with having a best friend (Dolva et al, 2019), that staff knowing the friendship preferences of those they support increases their chances of having friends (Friedman & Rizzolo, 2018), that staff perceptions and understanding of the individuals they support is important to participation and connecting with others (Kamstra et al, 2019; Talman et al, 2019), and that continuity and familiarity of support staff enhances inclusion (Friedman & Rizzolo, 2018; McCausland et al, 2019). This suggests that better communication support for those with such difficulties is required, including training for staff to better understand, interpret and support people with significant communication difficulties to meet people and to form and maintain friendships.…”

“…Therefore, it was encouraging that the large majority of respondents (92.4%, 560/606) had friends; although just over half of these had a best friend (56.6%, 317/560; or 52% of the full sample (317/609)). This is broadly comparable to rates of friendship found in previous studies (Dolva et al, 2019; Friedman & Rizzolo, 2018). The finding that almost half of respondents did not have a friendship close enough to call a ‘best friend’ may also reflect previous findings of dissatisfaction with existing levels of friends and a desire for more friends (Friedman & Rizzolo, 2018; Robinson et al, 2018), difficulties reported with developing and maintaining friendship (Merrells et al, 2019) and smaller networks including fewer friends than found in the general population (White & Forrester‐Jones, 2019).…”

“…The literature suggests that people with ID have limited opportunity to meet and develop friendships with people who do not have ID (Dolva et al, 2019; Forrester‐Jones et al, 2006; Overmars‐Marx et al, 2017), meaning the high rate of non‐resident best friends with ID may also to some extent be associated with limited choice and opportunity. Where opportunities and support are provided for people with ID to meet and get to know people without identified disabilities, who for example might share a similar interest or live in the same neighbourhood, other studies have shown there is potential for friendship between people with and without ID (Overmars‐Marx et al, 2018; Stancliffe et al, 2015).…”

“…Need for behavioural support had a strong negative impact on social networks outside of family and paid staff (McVilly et al, 2006). And a recent study identified an association between communication ability and having a 'best friend' for young people with ID in Norway (Dolva et al, 2019).…”

<p>Adolescent leisure typologies according to school, family and peer group context _{Tipologías de ocio de los adolescentes en función del contexto escolar, familiar y el grupo de iguales}</p>

“…También hay otros estudios como el de Rodrigo-Moriche et al ( 2022) que contempla una perspectiva positiva en el ejercicio del ocio y tiempo libre al ser una excelente oportunidad para el desarrollo de competencias digitales desde un entorno educativo informal espontáneo y pleno de placer y disfrute. En este sentido, también se contempla el ocio adolescente en el grupo de iguales desde un enfoque positivo, de modo que se considera un factor esencial para la inclusión, fortalecimiento de las relaciones de amistad y adquisición de patrones de participación social, de aquellos que se encuentran en una situación de necesidad educativa especial (Dolva et al, 2019). Se da, por tanto, una multitud de estudios que hace que exista una diversificación de tipologías de ocio atendiendo a diferentes intereses, una de las más extendidas y generalizadas es la realizada por Cuenca (2000) el cual establece cinco dimensiones que agrupa las diferentes actividades del ocio, estas son:…”