Intra- and Interpersonal Factors in Adolescence Predicting Loneliness among Young Adults with Visual Impairments

Introduction:Youths with visual impairments (i.e., blindness or low vision) experience difficulties with forming and maintaining social relationships with peers. These difficulties challenge their psychosocial functioning and put them at risk of being lonelier later in life. The study’s primary goal was to investigate how intra- and interpersonal factors during adolescence influence Loneliness in young adulthood.Methods:Analyses were conducted on data from a national data set. Participants (N = 96) were interviewed at two different time points. General linear regression and mediation analyses were used to examine the role of social competence, personality, and satisfaction with social support, measured at mean age 17.83, and on Loneliness measured at mean age 23.45.Results:Analyses showed that adolescents with visual impairments who were more emotionally stable and had higher social competence during adolescence were less lonely later in life. In addition, the results showed that emotionally unstable adol...