Research in developmental disabilities | 2021
Increased openness to external influences in adolescents with intellectual disability: Insights from an experimental study on social judgments.
Abstract
BACKGROUND\nMaking appropriate social judgments about one s peers helps avoid negative influences from peers, yet the cognitive and adaptive difficulties experienced by adolescents with an intellectual disability (ID) may create challenges in this regard.\n\n\nPROCEDURE\nThis study used a computer-based task to investigate how adolescents with ID (n = 34, M = 14.89 years, SD = 1.38) and comparison groups of chronological age-matched adolescents without ID (n = 34, M = 14.68, SD = 1.16) and mental age-matched children (n = 34, M = 7.88, SD = .62) make social judgments of photos of adolescents, and the degree to which they are influenced by non-social and social cues in performing this task.\n\n\nRESULTS\nAnalyses showed adolescents with ID made significantly more polarizing judgments and showed a positivity bias compared to adolescents without ID. This judgment pattern was similar to that of younger mental age-matched children. Adolescents with ID were also significantly more influenced by non-social cues and peer opinions than adolescents from the control group.\n\n\nIMPLICATIONS\nThe results provide new perspectives for future research and support of adolescents with ID.