Abstract
Friendships contribute to positive social outcomes such as the promotion of prosocial behaviors and social well-being and can lead to an overall healthy quality of life. Despite the importance of friendships, little is known about how individuals without disabilities develop and maintain friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Using a phenomenological research design, the current study explored the lived experiences of 17 adults without disabilities who discussed the development and maintenance of their friendship with an individual with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and subsequently collaborative, open coding was used to identify codes and themes across participants. Three main themes emerged related to 1) factors that facilitated friendship development; 2) factors that contributed to friendship maintenance; and 3) impacts of the friendship for both individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. Implications of the results are discussed as well as future directions for research.
Friendships are a critical component of successful social functioning for all individuals. While there are variations in definitions, at their core, friendships are dyadic in nature and based on mutual reciprocity (Bagwell & Bukowski, 2018). Because friendships are voluntary in nature, compared to other social relationships such as with family members, they are more prone to deterioration and termination (Roberts & Dunbar, 2011). As such, friendships are presumed to develop and maintain based on within-individual features (e.g., personality traits) as well as the quality of interactions within the friendship (Bukowski et al., 2018). Key features of friendships include security, intimacy, and shared activities (Hall, 2012; Wood et al., 2017). Security in friendships often entails a sense of loyalty and trust between individuals (Hall, 2012) resulting in feelings of closer intimacy (Fehr, 2004). Intimacy, such as displays of emotional disclosure and empathic understanding, can distinguish those who are close friends versus those who are merely acquaintances (Hussong, 2000; Laurenceau et al., 2004). Finally, sharing common activities or interests are considered essential in any friendship, as it is often related to shared enjoyment and the quality of time spent together in the friendship (Hall, 2012).
The benefits of friendships are well documented. Generally, friendships are positively correlated with the promotion of prosocial skills and social competency (Sigstad, 2016) and can significantly impact overall quality of life (Simões & Santos, 2016). More specifically, friendships can enhance emotional and mental well-being, facilitate a sense of belonging, and lower stress levels (Drolet & Arcand, 2013; Hefner & Eisenberg, 2009; Holt-Lunstad, 2017). Other benefits include increased positive social engagement and community participation as well as improved conflict resolution skills (Majors, 2012). Friendships, then, positively benefit the social, cognitive, and emotional development of children and adolescents (Erdley & Day, 2017), playing an increasingly important role through adulthood (Chung & Carter, 2013).
While there are a number of benefits to friendship, forming friendships can be difficult. However, various factors can facilitate the development and maintenance of friendships over time. Across the lifespan, general factors, such as shared engagement in daily common activities, can facilitate friendship development (Blieszner & Ogletree, 2017). Age-specific factors may also impact friendship development and maintenance. In early childhood, for example, parents often serve an important role in facilitating and supporting peer relationships for their children (McCollum & Ostrosky, 2008; Yu et al., 2011); whereas parents become less likely to be involved in the friendship development process during adolescence, with friendships instead developing based on intimacy, self-disclosure, and emotional support (Poulin & Chan, 2010). By adulthood, friendships tend to develop to serve distinct functions such as fulfilling social integration needs and feelings of self-worth (Barry et al., 2009).
Once developed, the maintenance of friendships often depends on contextual factors such as the organizational and structural characteristics of a classroom environment for individuals in school (Poulin & Chan, 2010) and even individual factors such as one’s ability to communicate with their friend (Oswald et al., 2004) and ability to adjust through different transition periods (Roberts & Dunbar, 2011). In fact, Roberts and Dunbar (2011) found that close friendships (e.g., best friends) going through the transition from high school to college in early adulthood experienced a greater decrease in emotional intensity and contact when compared to family relationships (e.g., siblings). Thus, developing and maintaining friendships, especially during life transitions, may be generally challenging for all individuals.
Friendships for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
For individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, friendships are similarly important and beneficial. For example, friendships are associated with stronger self-worth, sense of belonging, and lower stress (Fulford & Cobigo, 2018; Ward et al., 2013), as well as improvement in mental and emotional health concerns. Additionally, friendships for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are reported to assist in facilitating more opportunities for self-autonomy (Ramcharan & Grant, 2001) and increased participation and engagement within the community (Lafferty et al., 2013; Petrina et al., 2014). Studies also highlight that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities want to be involved in social relationships, such as friendships (Bauminger & Kasari, 2000; Fulford & Cobigo, 2018), and they value and enjoy time spent together with friends (Friedman, 2019; Fulford & Cobigo, 2018).
Although some studies have reported that friendships for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often with family members or service providers (Alexandra et al., 2018; Bigby & Knox, 2009; Louw et al., 2020), other research highlights the occurrence and benefits of friendships between individuals with and without disabilities. In adulthood, the benefits of friendships between those with and without disabilities include reports of decreased anxiety and increased well-being for the individual with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Mazurek, 2014). Individuals without disabilities also benefit from friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as improved social skills (Carter et al., 2011), shared humor (Rossetti, 2015), increased awareness of exclusionary practices (Schuh et al., 2015), and better understanding of societal attitudes about disabilities (Copeland et al., 2004).
Interpersonal barriers, such as social skill deficits and behavioral challenges may impede friendship development and maintenance for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For instance, as deficits in social communication skills are prevalent among individuals with autism spectrum conditions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), these individuals may experience difficulties with initiating (Hauck et al., 1995) and maintaining social interactions with peers (Volkmar et al., 1997). Thus far, the literature suggests that reciprocity and mutuality (i.e., a give-and-take relationship) are key to the natural development and maintenance of friendships between individuals with and without disabilities (Kalymon et al., 2010; Rossetti & Keenan, 2018). However, past research indicates these friendships are most prevalent during the elementary school years and tend to taper off in high school (Carter & Hughes, 2005; Carter et al., 2001; Cutts & Sigafoos, 2001). Such outcomes have led to strong calls for more inclusion in schools to help foster the development of friendships as they age (Friedman & Rizzolo, 2018; Webster & Carter, 2007). Despite the push for inclusion, there is still little research examining how friendships develop and maintain between older individuals with and without disabilities (Athamanah et al., 2019).
Considering the lack of research on the development and maintenance of friendships between adults with and without disabilities, there is a need to update the literature particularly to account for the inclusion movement within the past few decades. As physical inclusion alone does not result in more friendships for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Wong, 2008; Rossetti et al., 2015), it is important to understand how friendships develop and maintain between individuals with and without disabilities so that practitioners can do more to foster and support such friendships. Given that friendships between individuals with and without disabilities tend to decrease with age, the purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of adults without disabilities who have a friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For the purposes of this study, intellectual and developmental disabilities was defined as a group of lifelong conditions due to impairments in physical, language, behavior, or learning areas and can include such conditions as intellectual disability, ASC, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Zablotsky et al., 2019). To gain a deeper understanding of the development and maintenance of friendships between adults with and without disabilities, the following primary research question was addressed: How do adults without disabilities describe the development and maintenance of their friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities?
Method
A phenomenology research design (Creswell, 2013) was used to understand the perspective of adults without disabilities on how their friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities developed and maintained. A phenomenological methodology was selected due to its capacity to capture the nature of these friendships and the perceived benefits or meaning of such friendships through the lens of the friend without disabilities in their own words (Brantlinger et al., 2005). This specific approach to qualitative research focuses on the commonality of a lived experience (i.e., friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities) within a particular group (i.e., individuals without disabilities; Creswell, 2013).
Researcher Positionality
The study authors have firsthand knowledge of interacting with individuals with and without disabilities due to their work in the field of special education. Additionally, some of the authors have formed and maintained friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities providing partial insider status to the experiences of individuals without disabilities as related to friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Field notes and memos were written after interviews and during data analysis to address potential influential factors between the researchers and participants (Merriam et al., 2001).
Participants
This study was approved by the university Institutional Review Board and informed consent was obtained from each participant at the beginning of their interview. Participants were recruited by posting flyers in campus buildings, through social media, conference listservs, and word of mouth. To be included, participants were required to (a) be 18 years or older; (b) have a friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities; and (c) report that the friendship had lasted at least 6 months. Although not all definitions of friendships within the research literature highlight the longevity of a friendship, Bauminger et al., (2008) have attempted to address inconsistencies and confusion within the literature by providing a unified definition of friendship which includes a defined period of six months or more. Given the continued inconsistencies and lack of focus on long-term friendships, the present study examined friendships of at least six months or more.
Participant Characteristics (n = 17).
Note. aOne participant was unsure of a friend's age; bExamples include summer camp, Special Olympics, and peer mentoring programs.
Characteristics of Friends with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Note: aOne participant was unsure of a friend’s age.
Procedures
A semi-structured interview protocol was developed a priori to guide the conversation (Knox & Burkard, 2009), and to gather comprehensive information about the development, maintenance, and impact of friendships between individuals with and without disabilities (see Appendix for interview protocol). As participants may be more willing to share their experiences in the format with which they are most comfortable (Knox & Burkard, 2009), all participants could choose to complete their interviews in person, over the phone, or via video conferencing. The first author, trained in interviewing techniques, conducted all interviews in a private office to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of participant responses. All interviews were audio-recorded (range: 30-60 min; M = 45 min in length) and transcribed verbatim.
Trustworthiness of the Data
Given the researchers’ positionality, all coding was collaboratively conducted by the study team to address any possible biases and to inform the data analysis process (i.e., investigator triangulation; Brantlinger et al., 2005). Collaborative coding brings multiple ways of analyzing and interpreting data, resulting in shared interpretation and understanding of the phenomenon of interest (Weston et al., 2001) as well as new and richer codes (Olesen et al., 1994). Successful collaborative coding involves coordination to ensure that individual coding across coders harmonizes (Saldaña, 2015). As such, the first author served as the coding team lead updating and maintaining a codebook with revised codes/categories for the study team (a common approach with collaborative coding; MacQueen et al., 2008). The current study also relied on group discussion to reach a consensus on interpretation and analysis of the data, another critical component to collaborative coding (Harry et al., 2005). Finally, all participants reviewed their transcripts and made any necessary revisions before data analysis and interpretation.
Data Analysis
Interpretation and analysis of the semi-structured interviews consisted of a three-step process. Initially, the first and third authors individually conducted open coding of the interviews for preliminary codes and categories (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Through group discussion, these preliminary codes/categories were synthesized to create a codebook consisting of codes/categories agreed upon across coders. Then, through an iterative process of back-and-forth group discussions, the first author updated and revised the codebook (e.g., addition of new codes, field notes, and memos) as data collection and analysis continued. Finally, a third round of refining codes, themes, and sub-themes was conducted using MAXQDA 2018 (VERBI Software, 2017) to identify any patterns or connections across the codes/categories (Maxwell, 2013). MAXQDA, a qualitative data analysis software program, allows for the creation of various table overviews including summary reports of the frequency and occurrence of codes/categories across and within documents. These summary reports were used to identify themes and sub-themes across codes/categories for all interviews.
Findings
Overview of Themes, Sub-themes, and Example Codes or Categories within each Sub-Theme.
Theme 1
Opportunities to Interact Helped to Develop Friendships
Many participants described that engaging in activities initially aided the development of their friendship with their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The two subthemes identified in this theme included two ways in which individuals without disabilities initially met their friends with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These activities included programs offered in structured environments such as peer mentoring programs and engagement in daily or common activities together outside of those structured environments.
It’s such a judgment-free zone and such an inclusive environment that we’re all here for one purpose. It's just to have fun…I think being in that environment has been able to help me cultivate these relationships with these individuals more than… [a] traditional setting.
We’d see each other twice a week for swimming and youth group and then we also hung out, like once every two weeks at least to go to the pool or we would go rollerblading or something like that, just normal stuff.
Many participants also noted that their friendship was "not forced" and developed naturally through shared, common interests. For example, one participant described how her one-year friendship with an individual with ASC grew simply because of their love of cooking: I definitely thought of us as friends in the classroom, but we didn’t talk that much outside of it until one day during class, she was asking me for my phone number...I think we had both found out our love for cooking and then later that night, I got a text, and she was like come over like let’s cook. And so, then the rest is just history. We just started doing tons of fun things and trying new recipes all the time together.
Theme 2
Communication is Key to Maintaining Friendships
The second theme identified communication as vital to the maintenance of friendships over time. Two subthemes emerged, as participants reported that adaptive communication and continuous communication was key to the maintenance of their friendship.
[My friend] is a little bit hard to understand sometimes and she speaks in pretty short sentences, but I've really grown to have kind of an ear for it now where I can really pick something up that she's trying to say that maybe someone else wouldn't be able to just because I'm around her a lot...but then I think since my sophomore year of high school, she [started using] an iPad...and I showed her how to text on her iPad and...she's really, really good at it. She'll send me long paragraphs...so that's really been something...that has been beneficial for our relationship and really helps me understand exactly what she's trying to say.
For this participant, adapting to her friend’s use of an iPad for communication strengthened their friendship so that it continued well after the end of their peer mentoring program. Others reported that their friends with intellectual and developmental disabilities focused on restricted or repetitive interests during a conversation or had trouble communicating their emotional states (e.g., upset or agitated, throwing items in the classroom, hitting other people). For these participants, these limited interests or challenging behaviors did not negatively impact or terminate their friendship. Rather, they reported learning how to adapt their communication and incorporate valuable strategies such as prompts to redirect the conversation and behavioral strategies to help their friend communicate more effectively.
I think part of the reason we’ve been friends so long is she’s persistent. Like even if we don’t talk for a few weeks or a couple of months, then she’ll contact me again and say, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ and so that’s kinda cool because I sometimes tend to get isolated…and she’ll say like, ‘Hey, let’s go do this or let’s go do that.’
While the ability to see each other in person varied in terms of frequency across participants (e.g., every school break or once a year), the use of technology (e.g., texting and FaceTime) helped them to continue communicating even when they were apart. As one participant who has been friends for over seven years with an individual with Down syndrome and used FaceTime to communicate noted, “[We] still talk every day…even if we only see each other once a year.” Continued communication was observed across many participants, particularly for friendships that lasted well over five years.
Theme 3
The Positive Impacts of Friendship
Finally, the last theme identified from the data was the positive impacts of friendship on many aspects of life. More specifically, two sub-themes emerged. First, some participants expressed that their friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities increased their awareness of disabilities resulting in an interest in advocacy for several social issues. Second, others reported mutual benefits of the friendship, including positive benefits for their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as themselves.
Develop a really strong sense of empathy...for people with disabilities or people who might, you know, be a little different from me and I really benefit [from] that development of empathy and wanting to pursue friendship and look at people [for] more than [their] deficits but to really focus on [their] strengths.
Others expressed that their friendship raised their awareness of respecting the dignity of an adult with intellectual and developmental disabilities regarding daily living activities (e.g., toileting) or the differences in their legal rights that they may experience because of their disability (e.g., the right to legally marry their long-term partner and to vote). One participant described how her friendship of over 13 years with an individual with an intellectual disability raised her awareness of the need to advocate for voting rights for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, explaining: Like I went all the way through nursing school, and I never thought about how being deemed competent or incompetent can affect someone’s freedom but for her, it really, really does. I mean, she can’t vote. I was just, like I said this last presidential election, I was like ‘...Who are you gonna vote for?’ and she said, ‘Well, I can’t vote but if I did, I would vote [for] this person’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s awful.’
For many participants, awareness of societal barriers led to an increased interest in advocacy for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This awareness, however, did not necessarily translate to specific actions regarding advocacy for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Rather, participants described their hopes about their ability to advocate for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. One participant noted that, after being friends for one year with an individual with an unspecified diagnosis, she hoped to be more of an advocate through her future career as an occupational therapist. Another participant stated she now feels more comfortable “standing up” to stigmas or stereotypes about intellectual and developmental disabilities because of her three-year friendship with an individual with Down syndrome.
I felt like I was able to be a little bit of a mentor for him in aspects of life that he was still learning but then on the flip side, I felt like I learned and [kept] learning a ton of things from him as well that I’m not necessarily an expert in, whether it be just kind of living life without any expectations and not really caring what people think about you and things like that.
Participants also reported specific benefits to their friends with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including developing a stronger social network of similar-aged peers and pushing them “outside of their comfort zone,” by building their confidence to meet new people and try new activities.
Discussion
This study's findings highlight the perspectives of adults without disabilities on the development, maintenance, and impact of their friendship with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Many of the reported factors related to the development and maintenance of friendships are similar to factors reported in the general friendship literature. These findings are also similar to previous research and highlight the importance of providing inclusive opportunities so that individuals with and without disabilities can meet and interact.
Inclusive Opportunities
The majority of participants reported that peer mentoring or similar programs played a critical role in how they met their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In fact, many participants noted they may not have met their friend in other settings or environments within their daily routine. This finding highlights the critical role peer mentoring programs may play in providing opportunities for individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities to initially meet and interact (Athamanah et al., 2019; Sidorowicz & Hair, 2009). Further, given that participants described their friendships developing due to shared interests and activities, it is clear that both individuals with and without disabilities need inclusive and supportive environments that allow for social interactions around such interests and activities (Hurd et al., 2018; Solish et al., 2010), which may then result in new friendships (Siew et al., 2017).
The finding that friendships between individuals with and without disabilities were able to develop from more formal structured settings is surprising, given that relationships in service-initiated programs tend to be hierarchical due to the mentor-mentee dynamic, typically include compensation for the mentors, and often wane when the program ends (Staub et al., 1994; Van der Klift & Kunc, 2002). Given that participants reported their friendships developed through opportunities provided in supportive inclusive programs (e.g., peer mentoring programs) in the current study, future research should examine whether programs that center around shared interests and activities are more likely to support the development of friendships compared to other programs that focus on peer mentors taking a more service-centered hierarchical role toward individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Consistent Contact
Communication was crucial to the maintenance of friendships for the participants in the current study, and participants noted that it was important to adapt to their friends with intellectual and developmental disabilities’ communication styles. This finding is similar to past research suggesting that, for some adults, the use of AAC devices plays a role in successfully developing and maintaining friendships with others (Cooper et al., 2009; Therrien, 2019). The successful use of AAC devices in developing and maintaining friendships may depend, however, on competency in using AAC devices by both individuals with and without disabilities and general acceptance of AAC devices as the primary means of communication (Anderson et al., 2011; Østvik et al., 2018; Therrien, 2019).
Some participants reported using other adaptations to better facilitate communication with their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as behavioral strategies to improve turn-taking during a conversation. Given that many participants met their friends with intellectual and developmental disabilities in peer mentoring programs, the ability to adapt to these issues may have stemmed from social skills training or disability awareness training provided as a part of their participation in the program (Carter, 2017; Owen-DeSchryver et al., 2008; Patterson & Smith, 2010). Future research should examine the importance of providing such training and whether it leads to increased development and maintenance of friendships. For individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who struggle with initiating and maintaining social interactions with peers (Friedman et al., 2013; Humphrey & Symes, 2011), the willingness of their friends without disabilities to adapt to different communication styles may be crucial to developing and maintaining meaningful friendships.
The ability to communicate through technology was also particularly important for participants who no longer lived close to their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities (e.g., the friend without disabilities moved away from home or the program in which they met ended). Within the general friendship literature, changes in physical proximity are the most common reasons for the discontinuation of a friendship (Rose, 1984; Shklovski et al., 2008). Advancements in communication technologies (e.g., email, text, FaceTime), however, has allowed individuals in the general population to communicate with others regardless of distance in a more feasible way compared to in the past (Hoffman et al., 2004). The results of this study suggest that technology has a similar effect in the maintenance of friendships between individuals with and without disabilities.
Transforming Lives
A majority of participants in the present study reported that, as a result of their friendships, they became increasingly aware of the societal barriers that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities face. With this increased awareness, many participants expressed their interest in advocating for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but this interest in advocacy did not necessarily translate to specific actions. The disconnect between interest and action may be due to the extensive time and effort required for successful advocacy. Even for caregivers who serve as advocates for their children, advocacy work (while beneficial) can be a source of negative outcomes such as stress and struggle affecting the physical and emotional well-being of the family as a whole (Wang et al., 2004). Participants in the present study may have struggled to translate their intent to advocate into action because of the difficult work associated with advocacy. Alternatively, the participants might not have been aware of how to advocate for their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This finding highlights the importance of teaching individuals without disabilities how to best effect change for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and how to be a supportive ally.
Even without specific advocacy action, however, meaningful friendships between individuals with and without disabilities demonstrate the potential to address poor societal attitudes towards those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as the friends without disabilities are able to demonstrate and model acceptance of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the community. For example, positive interactions between individuals with and without disabilities in inclusive settings model inclusive behaviors for others in the community, which may reduce stigma and other societal barriers (Izzo & Shuman, 2013).
Finally, most participants reported that their friendships were mutually beneficial, and they felt the friendship also positively impacted their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Most notably, some participants reported that, by encouraging their friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities to meet new people and try new activities in different community settings, their friend developed a stronger social network of similar-age peers. Given that the social networks of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are typically limited to paid staff, family members, and others with disabilities (Bigby & Knox, 2009), this is an important benefit and has implications for the social inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These results are similar to previous research that highlights how social inclusion leads to expanded social networks for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Abbott & McConkey, 2006) and suggest that it is possible to improve the social networks and community involvement of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities specifically through friendships with individuals without disabilities.
Limitations
While these findings provide insight into the development and maintenance of friendships between individuals with and without disabilities, the results should be interpreted with caution. First, the experiences and perspectives of the friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities were not included in the study. Due to the dyadic nature of friendships, consideration of the friend with intellectual and developmental disabilities' perspective is crucial to our overall understanding of the development and maintenance of friendships between individuals with and without disabilities. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities may perceive or experience friendships differently from individuals without disabilities (Athamanah et al., 2019). For example, compared to individuals without disabilities, fewer individuals with ASC included intimacy, companionship, or affection in their definition of friendship (Bauminger & Kasari, 2000); yet similarities included mention of mutual benefits and similar interests as critical components to friendship (Daniel & Billingsley, 2010; Howard et al., 2006). Future research should include the experiences and perspectives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to obtain a fuller understanding of the development, maintenance, and benefits of friendships between individuals with and without disabilities. Additionally, given that intellectual and developmental disabilities encompass a wide range of individuals, further research should closely examine the role of cognitive ability and adaptive functioning in the development and maintenance of such friendships. Still, gaining the perspective from individuals without disabilities is a critical step to informing the field on ways we can engage with individuals without disabilities and to provide opportunities for individuals with and without disabilities to meet and socialize in inclusive and supportive settings.
A second limitation includes the use of only one data source (i.e., semi-structured interviews). Future research could include direct observations of interactions between adult friends with and without disabilities or surveys that evaluate the quality and nature of the friendships. Third, interviews were conducted either in-person or over the phone. The different formats of interviews may have led to unintended differences in the nature of the interview or establishment of rapport. Finally, there is the potential for bias in the current study, as none of the study authors are individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the study lacked various approaches to enhance credibility and trustworthiness of the data such as member checks.
Directions for Future Research
Future research should continue to explore the ways peer mentoring or similar programs are used to provide an environment for individuals with and without disabilities to develop and maintain friendships. For example, peer mentoring programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities often already incorporate social and communication skills training (e.g., social cognitive skills, social perspective-taking, and interpersonal skills; Patterson & Smith, 2010). Research should examine whether parts of this training can extend to individuals without disabilities to facilitate the development and maintenance of social relationships. Given the importance of continued communication for friendship maintenance in the present study, expanding social and communication skills training to teach individuals with and without disabilities to maintain communication through phone calls, texting, social media, and community activities may be beneficial. Such strategies for maintaining communication are especially important for adolescents and young adults (Miczo et al., 2011) and those transitioning to different locations/environments (Shklovski et al., 2008).
A closer examination of the extent the lived friendship experiences of individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities corresponds with definitions and descriptions of friendship within the research literature is also warranted. The current study did not compare whether the description of friendships between adults without disabilities and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities correspond with definitions of friendship, as described in the literature. Further, the current study did not examine the quality of the friendships described by the participants without disabilities. To address this, future research may examine whether participants describe their friendships with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities similarly to their friendships with individuals without disabilities, or whether these are distinct aspects of these different friendships. Similarly, the qualities of both types of friendships can be examined. If there are differences, research should examine whether these differences are good, bad, or just different. It may be that different friendships are fulfilling different needs for individuals without disabilities, and that there is not a one-size-fits-all definition for friendship.
Research has long acknowledged the importance of friendships to successful social outcomes, an overall healthy quality of life, and positive mental well-being (Bramston et al., 2005; Oswald, 2017; Sigstad, 2016). Although individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities often develop social relationships with service staff and family members in their immediate social circle (Bigby & Knox, 2009), the findings of this study reveal that friendships can and do develop and maintain between individuals with and without disabilities. When given the opportunity to socialize and interact, friendships can continue to grow and flourish beyond formal settings to become real, authentic relationships. In doing so, individuals with and without disabilities benefit from the positive outcomes of comradery and companionship, improving overall quality of life for all.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division of Career Development and Transition Graduate Student Research Scholarship awarded to Cynde Josol.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Michigan State University Institutional Review Board and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
The current study was determined exempt by the Michigan State University Institutional Review Board. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study prior to completing the interviews.
