Page 85 - Social networks of people with mild intellectual disabilities: characteristics and interventions

Table 3 Frequency of contact (times per year; mean, SD) of the ID, ASD and REF group compared
Comparison of Social Networks
ID
ASD
REF
F
p
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Face to Face
Family 81.61 58.5 Acquaintances 116.96 92.4 Professionals 65.95 50.1
Telephone
Family 102.48 172.5 Acquaintances 97.41 117.7 Professionals 13.11 17.8
Internet
Family 23.67 44.6 Acquaintances 52.78 67.9 Professionals 2.02 4.0
90.80 57.2 63.28 70.1 56.86 83.8
93.63 94.7 74.28 172.1 69.13 138.6
31.14 39.9 64.13 93.2 19.04 28.8
95.73 52.4 51.06 38.7 51.17 69.2
116.77 139.6 55.46 56.8 9.27 12.6
21.82 22.5 26.36 30.5 17.22 22.0
0.588 .557 8.737 .000 0.299 .743
0.253 .777 0.999 .372 3.152 .051
0.648 .525 3.156 .047 3.781 .030
Length of relationships 4 With respect to the length of the relationships with acquaintances, analyses
showed differences (F (2, 97) = 8.289, p < .001). Participants with ID knew their acquaintances on average 5.71 years (SD = 4.9), participants with ASD 8.55 years
(SD = 3.8) and participants in the REF group 10.04 years (SD = 4.4). Post hoc comparisons showed that participants with ID knew their acquaintances for a shorter length of time than participants with ASD (p = .048) and participants of the REF group (p < .001). No significant differences were found in the length of the relationships with professionals. Participants with ID knew them on average 3.19 years (SD = 2.3); participants with ASD 2.22 years (SD = 2.4) and participants of the REF group 2.03 years (SD = 1.6).
Initiation of contact
The initiation of contact can be considered as reciprocal (i.e. both the participant and the network member initiate the contact), but it is also possible that the participant or the network member is the main initiator or that neither the participant nor the network member explicitly takes the contact initiative, according to the participant. Analyses revealed very clear differences between the ID, ASD and REF groups in their perception of the initiation, for both family and acquaintances. Post hoc analyses revealed that participants with ID or ASD described their initiative less often as reciprocal than the REF group; this holds for the family network and the network of acquaintances (all p ≤ .005). Participants with ID saw themselves more often as the main initiator, compared to the REF
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