Academic articles in this node study the effects of social isolation on children with neurodevelopmental conditions and examine how being socially isolated can affect both the children and their families. These articles often focus on children with conditions like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), exploring how they might struggle with making friends and participating in group activities. This lack of social interaction can impact their emotional well-being, leading to feelings of loneliness, anxiety, or depression. Additionally, these studies look at how social isolation can affect a child’s ability to do well in school and develop important social skills.
The research also highlights the effects on families, noting that parents and siblings may experience increased stress and frustration due to the challenges their child faces. By using various research methods, such as surveys, interviews, and observations, these studies provide a clearer picture of the difficulties caused by social isolation. They also offer recommendations for creating more supportive and inclusive environments, such as better social skills training and community programs. These articles aim to improve our understanding of social isolation’s impact and suggest ways to help children with neurodevelopmental conditions feel more connected and supported.
Article Summery:
By Celia Kwan, Mojgan Gitimoghaddam, and Jean-Paul Collet
What is the authors’ objective?
The authors investigated the connections between social isolation/loneliness and the health of children with neurodevelopmental conditions through an examination of current research literature.
Relevant background information…
The difference between social isolation and loneliness is that social isolation is defined as a lack of social contacts. Loneliness, on the other hand, is the psychological, social, and emotional consequence of not feeling included enough in relationships.
Loneliness is often associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety, suicide, anger, and stress. Lonely adolescents, in particular, have a higher chance of experiencing anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as physiological symptoms, like headache and nausea. It can also be associated with chronic conditions, like heart diease, hypertension, strokes, and lung conditions.
The negative outcomes of loneliness can be long-lasting. Socially isolated children were found to be at significant risk of poor adult health. Children with neurodevelopmental conditions are at higher risk of social exclusion and feelings of loneliness, due to behaviours that often do not conform to social norms. Several studies have shown that children and adolescents with autism were lonelier than neurotypical children.
What did they find?
.The authors reviewed twelve research articles, mostly originating from the United States. They found that in children with neurodevelopmental conditions, loneliness was associated with mental health problems, developmental challenges, and learning issues. These effects could extend into adulthood, as one study found loneliness was associated with future mental health problems up to nine years later. It was also negatively associated with academic self-confidence, though the relationship with academic success was unclear as there are other related factors, like the type of condition and the environment.
In older youth with autism, loneliness was related to depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety, though this area needs more research in younger populations. Youth with learning disabilities had a positive association between loneliness and negative behaviours (internal and external). In youth with ADHD, loneliness was linked to anxiety to a greater degree than in youths with autism.
What did they recommend?
They recommended that more NDD diagnoses should be studied in the future, like developmental coordination disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD), or tic disorder. Additionally, physical activity level should be assessed in relation to loneliness in children with NDD. They recommended peer support groups as a way to decrease loneliness in children with NDD, as it teaches social and friendship skills to teens with autism.
Article Summery:
By Michelle Chakraborti, Mojgan Gitimoghaddam, William H. McKellin, Anton Rodney Miller, and Jean-Paul Collet
What is the author’s objective?
The authors examined current research literature to understand how peer support networks affect families. They want to understand if these networks benefit parents and how to improve the structure of these systems.
Relevant background information…
Peer support networks consist of parents with children with NDID (neurodevelopmental and intellectual disabilities). Families of children with NDID experience higher levels of distress and lower levels of well-being. One key factor is social isolation due to the lack of understanding of their child’s disruptive behaviour by the people around them. Parents may choose to isolate over experiencing frustration in public.
Social support is an important resource to learn coping strategies, find information, and gain emotional support. It can also help parents enlarge their circle, increase their sense of belonging, and provide a forum to share their feelings with people who understand them.
What did they find?
They organized the impact of support networks into seven themes. The most common was creating a shared experience. Addiitionally, they found that peer support groups helped promote optimism and empowerment, foster learning, develop social opportunities, enhance belonging, strengthen emotional support, and enhance advocacy skills.
They also noted that participation in these groups was affected by numerous factors. A critical motivator for participation was having a committed group facilitator who had knowledge in the area, understood confidentiality practices, and good listening skills. In addition to this, parents who were open to sharing benefited the most from participating. Barriers towards participation included unavailability of childcare, transport, responsibilities, job commitments, and fatigue. Online networks could make participation more flexible and convenient, but some participants in the study were concerned about privacy and the validity of shared information if support groups were virtual. The most effective way to overcome attendance barriers were for support groups to offer childcare.
Anything else?
The authors stated that more research needs to be done to understand the effectiveness of peer support for different ages/functioning levels of children. Also, the study interviewed parents who attended groups from beginning to end and were more likely to have a positive experience with support networks than those who left early. Another problem with this study is that parents could be accessing other interventions at the same time which made it difficult for the authors to understand if the peer group was responsible for improvements.