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Self‐determination and future goals in a sample of adults with intellectual disability
Author(s) -
Di Maggio I.,
Shogren K. A.,
Wehmeyer M. L.,
Nota L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/jir.12696
Subject(s) - intellectual disability , autonomy , psychology , self determination , interpersonal relationship , interpersonal communication , sample (material) , developmental psychology , structural equation modeling , test (biology) , qualitative research , personal autonomy , applied psychology , social psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , paleontology , social science , chemistry , statistics , mathematics , chromatography , sociology , political science , law , biology
Background In recent years, increased attention has been directed towards the importance of identifying the future goals of people with intellectual disability (ID) and promoting their abilities to design their future. Consistent with these, the first aim of this study is to investigate the future goals of people with ID in terms of content and temporal distance. Moreover, the second aim of this study is to test the predictive role of self‐determination on the number of future goals reported by people with ID. Methods In this study, 96 young adults with ID were involved and a mixed method design was chosen. Specifically, qualitative procedures (consensual qualitative analyses) and quantitative procedures (structural equation modelling) were carried out. Results The results showed that the future goals of people with ID are characterised by different factors related to autonomy, health/well‐being, interpersonal relations and personal growth. Moreover, self‐determination (assessed with Self‐Determination Questionnaire—Version for Adults) predicts a higher number of future goals reported by people with ID. Conclusions These results suggest the importance of providing adequate support to the development of self‐determination.