Transition skills of youths with disabilities: The impact of individual characteristics, social support and self‐esteem

Abstract

AbstractThe aims of this study were the investigation of the transition knowledge‐skills of adolescents and young adults with visual impairments, learning difficulties, or mobility impairments, and the impact of disability, individual characteristics, social support, and self‐esteem, on their transition knowledge‐skills. Apart from the questionnaire concerning the demographic/ individual characteristics of the participants, three more instruments were used: (a) the Transition Planning Inventory‐2, (b) the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS), and (c) the Rosenberg Self‐esteem Scale. The sample consisted of 169 youths with disabilities. The variable “disability” is a statistically significant predictor of transition knowledge‐skills. The total transition knowledge‐skills of participants with mobility impairments were worse than those of participants with learning difficulties and those of participants with visual impairments. Participants' transition knowledge‐skills were better when the received close friends' social support was higher. The findings of the present study also indicate that the self‐esteem of young people with disabilities has a positive effect on their transition knowledge‐skills. Moreover, the age of the participants, the number of their siblings and their parents' educational level influence their transition knowledge‐skills.