Adolescence is a period characterized by significant physical and mental changes. Interpersonal relations with family members, friends and persons of opposite sex change a lot. Adolescents may experience problems with speaking in public and with assertive communication, which may increase with negative experiences. Adolescents with mild intellectual disability (MID) have more interpersonal problems in the area of interpersonal relations because of their intellectual, social and other deficits. Because of that, they would need more help and support.
As a part of our research, we used the Questionnaire about Interpersonal Difficulty for Adolescents by Spanish authors translated into Slovene. The questionnaire is a self-assessment scale that measures the presence of interpersonal problems in the area of social relations that adolescents perceive for themselves (e.g. in the family, in school, in public, with friends, with people they like, etc.). On a sample of 181 students from two elementary school programs – elementary school with adapted program with lower educational standards (AP LES) and elementary school program with an equivalent educational standard (EES) – we wanted to check the level of interpersonal problems. We were interested in finding out which sample from both groups of adolescents has more interpersonal problems – adolescents that are attending AP LES and were identified as having MID or normative adolescents. We were also interested in whether there are differences between interpersonal problems in adolescents of different ages in both educational programs and between the sexes, whether there are significant differences comparing older adolescents with MID and younger adolescents without intellectual disability, and also the differences in interpersonal problems between girls and boys only from AP LES.
The results of our research have shown that adolescents with MID have more interpersonal problems than normative adolescents, especially as regards their relationships with family and friends. Analysing both groups of adolescents - with and without MID - we obtained results that younger pupils without intellectual disability (ID) have fewer interpersonal problems. Girls from both groups of adolescents have more problems compared to boys with and without MID, with both having most interpersonal problems in the area of relationships with the opposite sex. We also examined whether there is a difference in interpersonal problems among younger, normative adolescents, compared to older adolescents with MID, and found that there are significant differences and that adolescents from AP LES have more interpersonal problems. Finally, we also checked whether boys with MID have more interpersonal problems than girls with MID. It turned out that girls have fewer problems than boys do. In general, the results showed that adolescents have most interpersonal problems in relationships with the opposite sex and in assertive behaviour, followed by interpersonal problems in family relations and public speaking. Adolescents have the fewest problems in relationships with friends. Boys from both samples together generally rated themselves more positively than girls, except boys who have MID.
It is important that as professionals we are aware of the areas in which interpersonal problems are most common, both in normative adolescents, and especially in adolescents with MID, who have even more difficulty in dealing with problems in interpersonal relationships. Adolescents need to feel that they can find support in an adult on whom they can rely and who will help them to successfully overcome their interpersonal difficulties.
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