Hopelessness and social comparison in Turkish adolescent with visual impairment

Abstract

There are few studies reported in the literature on the psychosocial health of adolescents with visual impairment. The results of this study will be a beneficial addition to the literature about the visually impaired and programmes that will be prepared. • Despite the studies in the literature show a relationship between many psychosocial problems with social comparison and hopelessness, no research has yet examined the relationship between hopelessness and social comparison. • In this study, we found a weak relationship between social comparison and hopelessness. The hopeless adolescents' social comparison scores were found lower than hopeful ones' scores. The purpose of this study was to determine visually impaired adolescents' level of hopelessness and how they perceive of themselves socially compared to other individuals. Another purpose of this study was to look for relationships between hopelessness and social comparison in adolescents with visual impairment. The research population was comprised of 130 students at a secondary school for the visually impaired in Istanbul, Turkey. Our study demonstrated a weak relationship between social comparison and hopelessness (r=-0.46, P < 0.000). The mean hopelessness score for the adolescents with visual impairment was 4.59 ± 3.12 (girls: 4.23 ± 3.10; boys: 4.83 ± 3.11) and social comparison score was 87.50 ± 11.19 (girls: 88.67 ± 11.62; boys: 86.60 ± 10.85). Hopelessness and social comparison were not affected by being blind from birth compared to later or from being a full-time boarding student compared to being a day student. The hopeless (Beck Hopelessness Scale score ≥ 9) adolescents' social comparison scores were found lower than hopeful ones' scores (P < 000). Factors affecting hopelessness and social comparison were feelings about their father, teacher and school. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing.