Loneliness of the Blind and the Visually Impaired.

Ami Rokach,David Berman,Alison Rose

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.641711

Abstract

Loneliness has been termed a social epidemic, especially when experienced by people with disabilities. In order to better understand how loneliness is experienced in vulnerable populations, the present study compared the qualitative dimensions of loneliness of the blind and visually impaired with the general population not on the frequency or intensity of their loneliness, but on its qualitative aspects. One hundred and eighty-seven participants responded to a questionnaire which measured the qualitative aspects of loneliness on five subscales: Emotional distress, social inadequacy, Growth and discovery, social isolation, and emotional alienation. Results indicated that as expected, the two populations differed significantly in their scores on four of the five subscales (except emotional alienation), but in the opposite direction of what was expected. That may indicate that the visually impaired person’s ability to transcend their blindness, and connect with those around them, and the larger society, in different—and not necessarily less meaningful-manner than the seeing general population. As expected, the visually impaired scored significantly higher than the general population on the Growth and development subscale.

Highlights

The present study, which adopted the biopsychosocial approach, sought to examine the quality of loneliness as affected by sight impairment or complete blindness
While there have been various research reports on the blind and their experiences, and those attesting to their loneliness which has been enhanced by their visual impairment (Osaba et al, 2019), no study to date has explored the qualitative dimensions of the loneliness that the visually impaired are experiencing
The present study examined the qualitative aspects of people with blindness or significant sight challenges, by comparing them to that of a comparable sample of the general population

Summary

Introduction

The present study, which adopted the biopsychosocial approach, sought to examine the quality of loneliness as affected by sight impairment or complete blindness. Cacioppo et al (2000, 2002, 2003) and Hawkley et al (2003) utilizing questionnaires and direct observations or measurement of physical variables, subscribed to Peplau and Perlman’s conceptualization of loneliness and furthered the field by researching how it is related to physical and mental health, to depression, to various social variables, and how it may even be “contracted” from one person in a group, to others. Salient threads in those definitions focus on deficiency of intimacy and meaning within a relationship, while others emphasize shortcomings in people’s sense of belonging and limited or lack of social

Methods

Results

Conclusion