Young People with Intellectual Disabilities and Social Media: A Literature Review and Thematic Analysis

Abstract

Background: The aim of this review is to identify and analyse the research findings in the field of young people with intellectual disabilities and social media. Method: Twelve peer-reviewed papers published in well-established and recognized journals between 2001 and 2017 were identified from electronic database searches (Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar), the Internet (Facebook) and correspondence with experts. Results: Six topics were identified through thematic analysis of the texts: opportunities, risk and vulnerability, sexuality, identity, barriers and support. Conclusion: The latest research on young people with intellectual disabilities is characterized by issues of risk, vulnerability and support. The concept of positive risk-taking is suggested for the development of methodological approaches in practice and research. Furthermore, vulnerability, online and offline activities and identity formation should be examined more closely, and there is a call for new research methods in this area, for example observations and netnography.

Internet opportunities and risks for adolescents with intellectual disabilities: A comparative study of parents’ perceptions

“…The results of that study report lower access to and use of the internet by adolescents with ID, in comparison to the general population [37]. These results [20,37] together with the findings in the present study suggest that support on internet use to adolescents with ID should be given using a positive risk-taking approach, by both parents and staff.…”

“…The result shows new insights in internet use and its opportunities and risks for adolescents with ID, from the perspectives of parents only. A recent literature review from Borgstr€ om et al [20] reported that adolescents with ID should be acknowledged as part of the I-generation, or Igen, having grown up with the internet their whole lives, as the internet has been widely used for nearly 25 years. Contemporary research on internet use for adolescents with ID needs to be more focussed on aspects of risks and vulnerability as well as support as it has been for adolescents in general [23].…”

“…It is seen as important to implement positive risk-taking by those giving support, and the need for further research has been identified to focus on, e.g. perception of risks for the target group and their support persons and what positive risk-taking could be for this target group [9,20].…”

“…There are a limited number of studies on internet use for young people with ID, and especially limited with regards to surveying parents' perceptions of both opportunities and risks of internet use [9,20]. Perceptions of risks and concerns among parents of their adolescent with ID's internet use has not been investigated on a survey basis to our knowledge, despite that it has been considered important to survey parents of adolescents nationally and internationally for more than two decades [21][22][23].…”

Internet use and digital participation in everyday life : Adolescents and young adults with intellectual disabilities

“…In summary most studies report a need for more research that include young people with IDs' own perspectives on their internet use in the different settings where they live their lives and use the internet (Borgström, Daneback, & Molin, 2019;Caton & Chapman, 2016;Lussier-Desrochers et al, 2017) .…”