Perceived social support in adolescents with and without visual impairment

The study assessed perceived availability of support from parents, peers, and teachers in adolescents with and without visual impairment. Adolescents with visual impairment perceived lower levels of parental support but higher levels of support from teachers than sighted adolescents, and these differences remained stable across a 2-year interval. There was considerable heterogeneity within the groups as adolescents with visual impairment were most often found in clusters with high levels as well as low levels of all assessed sources of support. High perceived support from all sources showed positive associations with life-satisfaction of adolescents with and without visual impairment. As lower levels of perceived parental support of students with visual impairment were based on students from residential schools, we conclude that measures would be welcomed for improvement of parent-child contacts during the school days. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.