Examining the importance of social relationships and social contexts in the lives of children with high-incidence disabilities.

In this investigation, the authors examined the perceptions children had of their relationships with parents, peers, and teachers; their bonds with schools and neighborhoods; and their social, behavioral, and emotional adjustment. Participants were 96 students in the fifth and sixth grades who were receiving special education services for learning disabilities (n = 40), emotional and behavioral disorders (n = 18), mild mental retardation (n = 18), and other health impairments (n = 20). Findings indicated that both positive and negative aspects of these children's relationships and bonds were associated with social, behavioral, and emotional adjustment. Furthermore, different aspects of these relationships and bonds were differentially associated with adjustment variables. These findings suggest that it is important to consider how social relationships and social contexts relate to the adjustment and functioning of children with high-incidence disabilities.

Within the fields of psychology, sociology, and education, there has been a rapid expansion of research focused on understanding individual development within social contexts (Lerner & Simi, 1995; Moos, 2003; Rutter, 2000). Much of this work has been drawn from perspectives that place an emphasis on the dynamic interplay among the developing individual, family, and peer relationships; neighborhood and community contexts; and broader cultural forces. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982), theories of ecological development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998), and developmental systems theory (Ford & Lerner, 1992; Lerner, 1998) all emphasize the interactive nature of individual development within contexts.

Approaches that rely on such perspectives have the potential to deepen our understanding of the stressors, risks, and supports that can negatively and positively affect development across time (Sameroff, Bartko, Baldwin, Baldwin, & Seifer, 1998). However, despite growing awareness of the importance of social and contextual experiences in the social sciences in general, less is known about how social relationships and contexts influence the lives of children and youth with high-incidence disabilities. This is a vulnerable population whose members are more likely to experience peer rejection, depression, anxiety, behavioral and conduct problems, delinquency, poor academic adjustment, school dropout, and poorer long-term outcomes than are children, youth, and adults without disabilities (Guevremont & Dumas, 1994; Haager & Vaughn, 1995; Manikam, Matson, Coe, & Hillman, 1995; Murray, Goldstein, & Edgar, 1997; Pearl & Bay, 1999; Werner, 1993). Depending on the specific disability category under investigation, there are some differences in adjustment and outcome status, but a substantial body of evidence supports the claim that children and youth with learning disabilities (LD), emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), and mild mental retardation (MMR) are at a heightened risk for experiencing difficulties throughout their lives (Al-Yagon & Mikulincer, 2004; Pearl & Bay, 1999; Werner, 1993). Developing greater understanding of the social and contextual lives of children with high-incidence disabilities may therefore be particularly important because social relationships and contexts may act as risk or protective factors in the lives of these children (Al-Yagon & Mikulincer, 2004; Murray, 2003; Werner, 1993).

Caregiver-Child Relationships

A considerable body of research has connected caregiver-child relationship quality with developmental outcomes. From an attachment perspective (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bowlby, 1982), the quality of the early and ongoing relationships children have with caregivers can positively or negatively affect children's social, emotional, and school-related functioning and adjustment (Thompson, 1999; Urban, Carlson, Egeland, & Sroufe, 1992). Although the bulk of research on attachment has focused on infant-caregiver relationships, sufficient data exist in regards to the importance of these relationships in childhood and early adolescence as well (Greenberg, 1999; Kerns, Tomich, Aspelmeier, & Contreras, 2000).

Armsden et al. (1990) found that children and early adolescents with clinical depression had poorer quality relationships with caregivers than did nondepressed psychiatric controls and children without psychiatric disorders, suggesting that attachment quality may play a particularly important role in depression. Granot and Mayseless (2001) examined associations between attachment security in middle childhood and the social, emotional, behavioral, and school-related adjustment of children. After controlling for student gender, these researchers found that children's ratings of attachment security were positively associated with academic and emotional adjustment and negatively associated with behavioral problems. In a cross-sectional investigation of attachment during adolescence, Engels, Finkenauer, Meeus, and Dekovic (2001) found that adolescents' self-reports of attachments to parents were associated with self-esteem and depression. Youths in this investigation who reported greater communication and trust in their relationships with their parents had greater self-esteem and lower ratings of depression. Together, these and other findings suggest that the quality of relationships with caregivers are related to children's social, emotional, and school-related functioning. These findings also suggest that attachment relationships continue to have an influence on psychosocial functioning beyond early childhood.

Although less is known about caregiver-child attachment relationships among children with high-incidence disabilities, the findings from several investigations have suggested that children with LD are less likely than students without disabilities to receive secure attachment classifications and that the quality of these children's relationships with caregivers are associated with socioemotional functioning (Al-Yagon & Mikulincer, 2004). Furthermore, Al-Yagon and Mikulincer found that children with LD who were classified as emotionally resilient were more likely to have a secure attachment with caregivers than were children with LD who were classified as nonresilient.