Protective and Risk Factors with Peer Interactions: Down Syndrome

Although Down syndrome is a common intellectual disability, many Down syndrome children exhibit a number of protective factors which can enhance their life skills, including, according to Guralnick (et al., 2011) a high degree of social orientation and awareness. On the other hand, children with Down syndrome still have numerous hurdles to overcome, including difficulties with emotional regulation when facing frustration, and difficulties with social communication and verbal expression.

Children with Down syndrome, when observed over the course of one study, were able to engage with other children and initiate play with familiar peers, although they often struggled to do so with more unfamiliar peers (Guralnick, et al., 2011). Children who exhibited high levels of representational play and a strong interest in interacting socially were also able to compensate for risk factors such as limited language (Guralnick, et al., 2011, p.12). Overall, this suggests that while social competence for children with Down syndrome cannot be completely disassociated from developmental and intellectual limitations, children are still capable of meaningful interactive play with peers.

The studys findings also suggest that teachers can support such interactions by fostering supportive relationships, encouraging friendships between mainstreamed children and their peers, and reducing some of the intimidation factors which might act as barriers. The study also found that problems were more likely to arise in less structured and more complex social activities with developmentally typical students, again underlining the need for careful supervision of activities and pairing into smaller dyads to enable children with Down syndrome to more fully participate in and benefit from social interactions. Knowledgeable and supportive children or adult partners capable of capitalizing upon protective factors were found to be particularly helpful. More research is needed to determine if these patterns are universally apparent in all children with Down syndrome.

Reference

Guralnick, M.J., Connor, R.T., & Johnson, L.C. (2011). Peer-related social competence of young

children with Down syndrome. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 116, 48-64. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3898700/pdf/nihms545705.pdf