Community Activities and Social Support Networks: A Social Comparison of Adults With and Adults Without Mental Retardation

Abstract

Characteristics of community activities and social support networks of 27 adults with mental retardation drawn from a statewide sample living in semi-independent apartments were compared to those of 27 adults without mental retardation from the community matched for single status, age, sex, and community size. Structured interviews using Weinberg's Social System Self-Assessment (1984) to measure social support networks showed no differences in frequency, location, type, or companionship of activities. However the social networks of adults with mental retardation were smaller, contained proportionately fewer friends, less reciprocity, and a large proportion of service providers. Non-staff friends of adults with mental retardation were almost exclusively other individuals with mental retardation and participation in activities with peers without disabilities was rare. There were no differences in perceived supportiveness nor satisfaction with contact with network members nor in reported well-being. Adults with mental retardation living semi-independently in the community were neither inactive nor perceived themselves as socially isolated when compared to single adults from the community, although their actual social integration was extremely limited. The utility of obtaining information from individuals themselves to provide personal validation for measures of community integration and of obtaining social comparison data to provide social validation is discussed.