Page 62 - Social networks of people with mild intellectual disabilities: characteristics and interventions

Chapter 3
3.3.2Correlations between characteristics of social network and satisfaction/QOL
The scores for the structural characteristics of the social networks (i.e. size, frequency of contacts, length of contacts and accessibility of contacts) and the functional characteristics of the social networks (i.e. affection, connection, preference and practical/informational support) have been previously reported in detail (van Asselt-Goverts et al., 2013). The mean satisfaction score for the questions regarding contact with the family, acquaintances and professionals in the social network was 4.05 (SD 0.9) on a scale of five. The mean QOL score was 3.65 (SD 0.6) on a scale of five. Both scores were above the mid-point of the scale, which suggests that the participants were quite satisfied with their social networks and their lives. The association between satisfaction with the social network and perceived QOL was significant, r = .398, p = .036.
Table 3 shows the correlations between characteristics of the social network, on the one hand, and satisfaction with the social network and perceived QOL, on the other hand. Analysis of the associations between characteristics of the social networks and participants’ satisfaction with their social networks revealed satisfaction to be significantly (p < .05) related to three structural characteristics: the number of network members, the frequency of telephone contact and the accessibility of network members. The larger the social network, the more telephone contact and the greater the accessibility (because of network members living in the same town), the more satisfied participants reported being with their social network. When the Pearson correlations were calculated to further explore the relations for the different groups within the social networks (i.e. family, acquaintances and professionals), two characteristics of the social networks stood out in particular. The number of acquaintances (i.e. friends, colleagues, neighbours, other acquaintances) correlated significantly with the participant’s satisfaction with the network, r = .448, p = .017. And the proportion of family members living in the same place correlated significantly with satisfaction, r = .389, p = .045. The other correlations with the size of the network, telephone contact and accessibility of particular groups within the network were not significant for satisfaction.
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