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DOI: 10.1177/10883576040190040201
2004 19: 205 Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl
Kyoung Gun Han and Janis G. Chadsey
ToWard Peers With Severe Disabilities
The Influence of Gender Patterns and Grade Level on Friendship Expectations of Middle School Students

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A
s students with disabilities are
educated in general education set-
tings, friendships between stu-
dents with and without disabilities have
been considered an important educa-
tional outcome (e.g., Hamre-Nietupski,
1993; Hendrickson, Shokoohi-Yekta,
Hamre-Nietupski, & Gable, 1996; Ken-
nedy & Fisher, 2001; Meyer, Park,
Grenot-Scheyer, Schwartz, & Harry,
1998). Friendships play a critical role
in students social development; they
expose students to important interper-
sonal skills, such as cooperation, sharing,
self-disclosure, and conflict resolution
(Hartup, 1992). In addition, friendships
make a contribution to ones self-esteem
and emotional well-being (Buhrmester,
1990). Further, through close friend-
ships, students receive numerous bene-
fits, such as affection, intimacy, valida-
tion, and the security of a trusted peer
(Buhrmester & Furman, 1986).
For students with disabilities, it is now
widely affirmed that friendships are con-
sidered important for a high quality of
life (e.g., Meyer et al., 1998). Parents
with children who have moderate or se-
vere disabilities consider friendships and
social relationships as critical outcomes
that should be emphasized in school ac-
tivities (Hamre-Nietupski, 1993). Friend-
ships with peers without disabilities can
also serve as the basis for some of the so-
cial, emotional, and practical support stu-
dents with disabilities need to become
FOCUS ON AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2004
PAGES 205214
The Influence of Gender Patterns
and Grade Level on Friendship
Expectations of Middle School
Students Toward Peers with
Severe Disabilities
Kyoung Gun Han and Janis G. Chadsey
This exploratory study investigated gender and grade level factors in friendship expec-
tations of middle school students toward their peers with severe disabilities. A total of
65 students from two middle schools were surveyed using a specifically designed in-
strument called the Middle School Friendship Survey. Results indicated that typical
middle school students had relatively low friendship expectations for their peers with
severe disabilities. Although there were no significant differences in friendship expecta-
tions by gender, there were differences across grade levels. Students in Grade 6 had
lower expectations for friendships than students in Grades 7 and 8. Unlike prior studies
reported in the literature regarding friendship expectations toward peers without dis-
abilities, the current study found that friendship expectations toward peers with severe
disabilities were not influenced by gender, but by grade level. Implications and recom-
mendations for practice are discussed.
truly integrated into everyday commu-
nity life (Traustadottir, 1993).
Some students with severe disabilities
may have limited social skills that create
difficulties for establishing friendships with
peers without disabilities, particularly in
displaying reciprocal interchanges and sus-
tained interactions (Guralnick & Groom,
1988). However, several studies have
shown that peers without disabilities are
willing to be friends with their classmates
who have severe disabilities (e.g., Hen-
drickson et al., 1996; Peck, Donaldson,
& Pezzoli, 1990), and friendships be-
tween students with severe disabilities
and their peers exist (e.g., Evans, Salis-
bury, Palombaro, Berryman, & Hollo-
wood, 1992; Grenot-Scheyer, 1994;
Schnorr, 1997).
As children become young adoles-
cents, friendships with peers become in-
creasingly important because peers offer
necessary models and back-up supports
formerly provided by family members
(Zetlin & Murtaugh, 1988). According
to Raffaelli and Duckett (1989), adoles-
cence is a time of emotional reorientation
to the peer group and increasing detach-
ment from the family. Therefore, appro-
priate and active peer relationships, such
as friendships, are extremely important
for young adolescents to become socially
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FOCUS ON AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
206
competent individuals. It is also believed
that students who are in late childhood
and early adolescence begin to develop
expectations for their friendships (Bige-
low & La Gaipa, 1980). Bigelow and La
Gaipa maintained that young adolescents
begin to develop expectations about the
qualities that friends should possess, and
are attracted to and befriend those who
meet the expectations. Young adoles-
cents have their own expectations regard-
ing desirable characteristics in a friend,
and those expectations may guide the
friendship selection process and the eval-
uation of their friends (Clark & Ayers,
1993).
Friendship expectations may differ by
gender. During adolescence, it is gener-
ally believed that girls develop more inti-
mate friendships than boys. Clark and
Ayers (1993) reported that female junior
high school students had more expecta-
tions regarding characteristics (e.g., mor-
ality, loyalty, commitment, empathic un-
derstanding) of close friendships than
male students. Friendship expectations
may also vary by age or grade level.
Friendships in childhood are character-
ized by mutual trust and assistance, but
during early adolescence, friendships are
centered on characteristics of intimacy
and loyalty (Berndt, 1986; Furman &
Buhrmester, 1985).
Though only a few attempts have been
made to look at gender issues and friend-
ships in the field of special education,
studies have reported that gender differ-
ences often occur in social relationships
and friendships between students with
and without disabilities. Literature sug-
gests that from childhood on, females
have more positive attitudes toward indi-
viduals with disabilities, are more willing
to make social contact with them, and are
more likely than males to become friends
of students with disabilities (e.g., Kishi &
Meyer, 1994; Krajewski & Flaherty,
2000). Consequently, for people with dis-
abilities who have friends, women with-
out disabilities are overrepresented in
friendships (Traustadottir, 1993). There-
fore, it is quite probable that there may
be differences in friendship expectations
between female and male students with-
out disabilities toward their friendships
with peers with disabilities. Also, if the
characteristics of friendships change as
students get older, then one might hy-
pothesize that friendship expectations of
students without disabilities toward their
peers with disabilities will vary by age or
grade level. Moreover, given that stu-
dents in middle school settings are tran-
sitioning from childhood to early adoles-
cence, they may experience rapid changes
in expectations about having friends and
being friends to others. Unfortunately,
direct investigations on the influence of
gender patterns and age on friendship ex-
pectations of middle school students to-
ward their peers with severe disabilities
are sparse.
The purpose of this study was to ex-
plore the influence of gender and grade
level on friendship expectations of typical
middle school students toward their peers
with severe disabilities. Rather than com-
paring the friendship expectations to-
ward peers with and without severe
disabilities, we sought only to explore
friendship expectations toward peers with
severe disabilities to make possible rec-
ommendations for practice. The knowl-
edge of friendship expectations that typ-
ical young adolescents have toward peers
with disabilities would allow us to iden-
tify the determinants of friendship se-
lection and the characteristics needed for
the maintenance of relationships. It would
also help us understand how typical mid-
dle school students gender and grade
level impact their friendship expectations
toward peers with severe disabilities. Con-
sequently, this knowledge would provide
educators and researchers with a vehicle
to create intervention approaches, espe-
cially for intrinsic strategies, that are spe-
cifically designed to meet grade level and
gender factors in fostering social relation-
ships between students with and without
severe disabilities in middle school set-
tings.
Method
To explore the factors of gender and
grade level differences in friendship ex-
pectations, the Middle School Friendship
Survey (MSF; see Note) was developed
and administered to students who were
enrolled in middle schools that included
students with severe disabilities.
Participants
The MSF was administered to students
from sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in
one middle and one junior high school in
two small Midwestern communities. The
schools were selected because they were
midsize, had similar percentages of stu-
dents with severe disabilities, and re-
ported the use of some inclusion prac-
tices. Junior High School A had 680
enrolled students and was located in a
middle-class urban area. According to
the building principal, about 9% of stu-
dents (n = 62) had been identified as hav-
ing disabilities and about 10% (n = 6) of
them had moderate or severe disabilities.
The students with severe disabilities were
placed mainly in a self-contained class-
room for academic classes during the
school day, and participated in general
education classes, such as P.E., art, music,
and lunch. This school had no special
program to promote social interactions
between students with and without se-
vere disabilities.
Middle School B was located in a
middle- to upper-middle-class suburban
area and had a student population of 682.
The building principal reported that
about 18% of the students (n = 122) had
been identified as having disabilities, and
7% (n = 8) were labeled as having mod-
erate and severe disabilities. The students
with severe disabilities were partially in-
cluded in general education settings, de-
pending on their IEPs. Typically these
students were included in art, music, in-
dustrial technology, life skills, lunch, and
P.E. The building principal indicated that
the school had a dance party program
that encouraged students with severe dis-
abilities to participate with their peers.
The building principals of the two
schools asked classroom teachers for vol-
untary participation, and one class from
each grade was randomly selected. The
teachers were asked only if they taught
classes common to all students, such as
math, social science, social studies, and
language arts. A total of 137 students
from six classes (i.e., one class from each
grade and three classes from each school)
were asked to fill out the MSF, and 65
students did so, yielding a 47% response
rate. In Junior High School A, 53 of the
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VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2004
207
68 possible students completed the MSF;
one of the questionnaires was excluded
for data analysis because it contained
missing items. The participating classes
were social studies (Grade 6) and lan-
guage arts (Grades 7 and 8). In Middle
School B, 15 of the 69 possible students
filled out the MSF; two questionnaires
were excluded because of missing items.
The participating classes were science
(Grade 6), language arts (Grade 7), and
reading (Grade 8).
To determine the validity of combin-
ing the data obtained from the two
schools whose response rates were not
equal (i.e., 78% in School A and 22% in
School B), a chi-square test for categori-
cal variables (gender and grade levels)
was conducted. This analysis revealed
that the two variables were not statisti-
cally significant from each other: gender,

2
(1, N = 65) = 1.004, p > .05; grade,

2
(2, N = 65) = .771, p > .05, meaning
that the data from the two schools could
be assumed to be drawn from the same
population on these two variables.
Therefore, the data from the two samples
were combined for further analyses.
Out of the total of 65 respondents, 28
(43%) students were boys and 37 (57%)
were girls. The respondents matched the
ethnic makeup of both schools. Among
them, almost 90% were European Amer-
ican, 4.5% were African American, and
3% were Hispanic. About 66% (n = 43)
of the respondents indicated there was at
least one student with severe disabilities
in one or more of their class periods, 17%
(n = 11) had more than two class periods
with peers with severe disabilities, and
27% (n = 18) replied that they did not
have any classes with students with severe
disabilities. Of the respondents, 26% (n =
17) had a family member with disabili-
ties, and 14% (n = 9) reported that they
had friends with severe disabilities.
Survey Instrument
The MSF consisted of six pages of ques-
tions in five sections: Part I asked for de-
mographic information, Part II probed
friendship activities with friends who did
not have disabilities, Part III asked about
friendship activities with friends who had
severe disabilities, Part IV looked at per-
ceptions about friendships with students
who have severe disabilities, and Part V
asked about friendship expectations for
students with severe disabilities. In all of
these sections, participants were asked
forced-choice questions or were asked
to provide short answers to open-ended
questions.
The items included in the MSF were
generated by a review of published re-
search on friendships in children and
young adolescents (e.g., Clark & Ayers,
1993; Clark & Bittle, 1992; DuBois &
Hirsch, 1993) and the perceptions and
attitudes of students without disabilities
about their peers with severe disabilities
(e.g., Hendrickson et al., 1996; Krajew-
ski & Flaherty, 2000). With the informa-
tion from these two literature bases, the
MSF reflected general friendship charac-
teristics of young adolescents and stu-
dents with disabilities. Once the ques-
tions were developed, four experts who
conduct research in the area of social re-
lationships and friendships of students
with disabilities were asked to examine
the items of the MSF and determine their
content validity. The experts primarily
suggested that some of the wording for
middle school students be clarified.
In addition to the content validation
procedure, a pilot test was conducted
with a fifth-grade student to see if the
MSFs wording, layout, and procedures
were easy for younger students to under-
stand. A second pilot test was conducted
with four eighth-grade students. The stu-
dents were asked to give feedback about
the clarity of the survey directions and
questions. The participants of the pilot
tests indicated that they could under-
stand the words and questions, but some
directions were slightly confusing. Based
on this feedback, directions were revised.
Part V of the MSF, which asked stu-
dents about their expectations for friend-
ships involving students with severe dis-
abilities, served as the primary dependent
variable for the study. Questions in Part
V included 32 items describing possible
activities and characteristics that partici-
pants would want in their friends with
severe disabilities. The 32 items were
categorized into three groups (i.e., Indi-
vidual Characteristics, Shared Activities,
and Relationship Characteristics) that
were considered common components
of friendships. The Individual Character-
istics category included three subcatego-
ries: Similarities, Function/Capability, and
Appearance/Characteristics. The Shared
Activities category had two subcate-
gories: In-School Activities and After-
School Activities. The Relationship
Characteristics category included four
subcategories: Intimacy, Support, Loy-
alty, and Peer Pressure. Items from the
categories were randomly interspersed to
prevent them from being arranged in a
particular pattern. The participants were
asked to rate the importance of each item
using a 6-point Likert scale (1 = not im-
portant at all, 6 = extremely important).
Table 1 shows some sample items from
Part V.
Procedures
The first author contacted the principals
from each participating school and de-
scribed the purpose of the study. Both
principals were asked to identify one class
and teacher from the sixth, seventh, and
eighth grades who might be willing to
participate in the study. Each principal
described the study to three teachers who
volunteered to participate in administer-
ing the MSF. The teachers distributed
parental and student consent letters. Stu-
dents who agreed to participate in the
study were asked to fill out the MSF in
their classes; the survey took approxi-
mately 20 minutes to complete and the
teachers collected the completed surveys.
The teachers and the responding stu-
dents were given a small gift (e.g., gift
certificates for a local bookstore, ball-
point pens) for their time.
Data Analysis
When the data obtained from the surveys
was entered into SPSS 10.0 for Win-
dows, a doctoral student in special edu-
cation read the data to the first author
and checked the first authors entries as
they were put into the computer. De-
scriptive statistics were used to analyze
the information gathered from Part I to
Part IV. Responses to each question were
tallied and frequencies and percentages
were calculated to determine the kinds of
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FOCUS ON AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
208
friendship activities identified (Part II
and III) and different perceptions re-
ported (Part IV). These data were ana-
lyzed only descriptively according to
gender patterns and grade level because
the questions were open-ended and the
main dependent variable was Part V.
A Cronbachs coefficient alpha was
computed to check the internal consis-
tency of the items in Part V for each of
the three main categories and their sub-
categories. The means and standard de-
viations for the 32 items were calculated.
In addition, a 3 2 two-factor ANOVA
design, in which one factor had two lev-
els (i.e., male and female) and the other
factor had three levels (i.e., Grades 6, 7,
and 8), was used to test the significance
and interaction effects for each main cat-
egory and the subcategories.
Results
Internal Consistency
To check the internal consistency (i.e.,
internal reliability) of Part V of the MSF,
Cronbachs coefficient alphas were cal-
culated across all categories. The overall
reliability coefficient for all 32 questions
was .8870. Of the three major categories,
the Shared Activities category had the
largest internal consistency coefficient
(i.e., .8541), followed by the Individual
Characteristics category (i.e., .8148), and
the Relationship Characteristics category
(i.e., .6938). Because all categories were
larger than the desired level of reliability
coefficient of .60 (Heppner, Kivlighan,
& Wampold, 1992), no single question-
naire item was excluded from further
data analysis procedures.
To see if the results of Part V from the
two participating schools could be com-
bined, a Levenes test for equality of vari-
ance was conducted. The result showed
that the test assumed equal variances and
the differences of the variances of two
schools were not statistically significant,
t(63) = .365, p > .50. Based on the re-
sult of the test, the data obtained from
the schools were combined for further
analysis.
Activities With Friends
Without Disabilities
Tables 2 and 3 illustrate the activities in
which the respondents reported partici-
pating with their friends without disabil-
ities both at school and after school
(Parts II and III). More than 70% of the
boys across all grade levels indicated that
they participated in sports at school,
mainly basketball and football. Girls also
mentioned sports as their number-one
in-school activity, participating mainly in
basketball and volleyball. Talking with
others at school and playing games were
also mentioned as frequently occurring
activities by boys and girls.
For after-school activities, playing sports
was again the most frequently identified
activity by boys and girls. Girls also talked
on the phone, shopped, visited with
friends, and were involved in clubs; boys
reported they played with video games
and computers.
Activities with Friends with
Severe Disabilities
Nine students (14%) reported that they
had friends with severe disabilities (i.e.,
five students at Junior High School A
and four students at Middle School B).
Of these nine students, six were girls.
Four of the students were in Grade 6,
TABLE 1
Sample Questions From Part V
Main category Subcategory Sample questions
Individual characteristics Similarities It is important that my friends with severe disabilities be the same
gender as I am.
Function/capability It is important that my friends with severe disabilities be
athletic.
Appearance/characteristics It is important that my friends with severe disabilities be
attractive.
Shared activities In-school activities It is important that my friends with severe disabilities play sports
or games with me at school.
After-school activities It is important that my friends with severe disabilities go to movies
with me.
Relationship characteristics Intimacy It is important that my friends with severe disabilities tell me their
secrets.
Support It is important that my friends with severe disabilities help me with
school work at school.
Loyalty It is important that my friends with severe disabilities be loyal
to me.
Peer pressure My friends without disabilities should like him or her, too.
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VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2004
209
and five were in Grade 8. No students in
Grade 7 reported having friends with se-
vere disabilities. The students met their
friends with severe disabilities mainly in
their classes (n = 4) and at church (n =
4). Two girls indicated that they met
their friends with severe disabilities
through other friends without disabili-
ties. Talking was identified as the most
frequent activity for both boys (n = 2,
both at school and after school) and girls
(n = 5 at school, and n = 4 after school).
Reasons for Not Having a
Friend with Severe Disabilities
Respondents were asked why they did
not have a friend with severe disabilities
and if they were willing to make friends
with students with severe disabilities (see
Table 4). The most frequently cited rea-
son that students did not have friends
with severe disabilities was related to
their limited opportunity to interact with
peers with severe disabilities. About
51.7% of the respondents indicated that
peers with severe disabilities were not in
their classes. The other three most com-
mon reasons included, I do not have
many opportunities to see them at
school (i.e., 40% for boys and 32% for
girls), They are always with teaching as-
sistants (i.e., 20% for boys and 42% for
girls), and I do not know any (16% for
boys and 22.5% for girls). In addition to
citing the limited opportunities for inter-
actions, respondents also identified peer
pressure as a reason. Approximately 14%
of the respondents stated that their other
friends might tease them if they made
friends with peers with severe disabilities;
boys (20%) indicated this reason more
often than girls (9.7%).
When respondents were asked if they
would be willing to make friends with
students with severe disabilities, 89.3% of
the students (i.e., 84% for boys and
93.6% for girls) replied that they were
willing to make friends with students
with severe disabilities, regardless of
gender. Three boys answered that they
would prefer male friends with severe dis-
abilities, and one girl stated that she
would prefer a female friend. Two stu-
dents replied that they did not want to
make friends with students who have se-
vere disabilities.
Friendship Expectations
Toward Peers with
Severe Disabilities
Means Scores. Tables 5 and 6 show
the mean scores for importance ratings of
friendship expectations across all subcat-
egories by gender and grade. The results
in Table 5 indicate that girls and boys had
similar expectations toward peers with
severe disabilities for friendship forma-
TABLE 2
The Most Frequently Occurring In-School Activities Reported With
Friends Without Disabilities
Boys
a
Girls
b
Total
Grade level Activity f % f % f %
6 Sports 15 75.0 8 38.1 23 56.1
Talking 1 5.0 5 23.8 6 14.6
Playing games 2 10.0 8 38.1 10 24.4
Club activities 2 10.0 2 4.9
7 Sports 13 72.3 8 40.0 21 55.3
Talking 3 16.7 7 35.0 10 26.3
Playing games 1 5.5 3 15.0 4 10.5
Club activities 1 5.5 2 10.0 3 7.9
8 Sports 11 78.6 12 52.3 23 62.0
Talking 1 7.1 5 21.7 6 16.2
Hanging around 2 14.3 1 4.3 3 8.2
Club activities 3 13.0 3 8.2
Playing games 2 8.7 2 5.4
Note. The respondents were allowed to mark multiple answers.
a
n = 28.
b
n = 37.
TABLE 3
The Most Frequently Occurring After-School Activities Reported With Friends
Without Disabilities
Boys
a
Girls
b
Total
Grade level Activity f % f % f %
6 Sports 11 68.7 7 36.8 18 51.4
Video games 3 18.8 1 5.3 4 11.4
Visiting/inviting friends 2 12.5 1 5.3 3 8.6
Talking on the phone 5 26.3 5 14.3
Shopping 2 10.5 2 5.7
Playing games 3 15.8 3 8.6
7 Sports 10 76.9 7 46.7 17 60.7
Shopping 5 33.3 5 17.9
Computer activity 3 23.1 3 10.7
Movies 3 20.0 3 10.7
8 Sports 5 50.0 8 38.1 13 41.9
Video games 2 20.0 2 6.5
Hanging out 2 20.0 2 9.5 4 12.9
Visiting/inviting friends 1 10.0 3 14.3 4 12.9
Club activities 6 28.6 6 19.3
On-line chatting 2 9.5 2 6.5
Note. The respondents were allowed to mark multiple answers.
a
n = 28.
b
n = 37.
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FOCUS ON AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
210
tion. The overall mean score of the 32
questions was 2.50 (SD = .57), meaning
that most items were rated as being be-
tween not very important and some-
what important; the mean for girls
(M = 2.52, SD = .56) was slightly higher
than that for boys (M = 2.46, SD = .60).
A comparison of the mean ratings across
all of the subcategories of friendship ex-
pectations indicated that the category of
Relationship Characteristics was the only
one with its mean score over three (for
girls, M = 3.56, SD = .73; for boys, M =
3.27, SD = .85), meaning that both girls
and boys regarded this category as some-
what important or important to mak-
ing friends with peers with severe dis-
abilities.
Differences Among Means by Gen-
der and Grade Levels. Though the to-
tal mean scores of girls were higher than
those of boys, there was no significant
difference between the two mean scores.
In addition, there were no significant dif-
ferences between the two mean scores of
boys and girls across two major cate-
gories (i.e., Individual Characteristics and
Shared Activities) and across all nine
subcategories. Only in the Relationship
Characteristics category was there a sig-
nificant difference between gender, F(1,
59) = 4.06, p < .05, with the mean score
of girls (M= 3.56, SD = .73) higher than
that of boys (M = 3.27, SD = .85).
The results showed that overall there
were statistical differences among grades,
F(2, 59) = 3.436, p < .05. Tukeys test
showed that there was a significant dif-
ference between the students in Grade 6
and Grade 7 (Grade 6, M = 2.27;
Grade 7, M = 2.7; p < .05), but not be-
tween Grades 6 and 8 or Grades 7 and 8.
All three major categories were found to
be significantly different across grades,
but primarily Grade 6 was different from
Grades 7 and 8. In the Individual Char-
acteristics category, F(2, 59) = 4.704,
p < .05, the mean score of Grade 6 (M =
1.68, SD = .53) was statistically different
from that of Grade 8 (M = 2.2, SD =
.59). In the Shared Activities category,
F(2, 59) = 4.200, p < 05, the mean score
of Grade 6 (M= 2.13, SD = .64) was sta-
tistically different from that of Grade 7
(M = 2.7, SD = .78). In the Relation-
ship Characteristics category, F(2, 59) =
4.804, p < .05, the mean score of
Grade 7 (M= 3.71, SD = .69) was statis-
tically different from that of Grade 8
(M = 3.13, SD = .74).
Two subcategories were significantly
different across grades with Grade 6
being different from Grades 7 and 8. In
the Similarities within the Individual Char-
acteristics category, F(2, 59) = 8.893,
p < .0001, the mean score of Grade 6
(M= 1.53, SD = .51) was statistically dif-
ferent from that of Grades 7 (M = 2.27,
SD = .77) and 8 (M = 2.20, SD = .60).
In addition, in the After-School Activities
within the Shared Activities category,
TABLE 4
Frequency of Reasons for Not Having a Friend with Severe Disabilities
Boys
a
Girls
b
Total
Reason f % f % f %
I would not know what to say. 2 8.0 3 9.7 5 9.0
They are not in my classes. 13 52.0 16 51.6 29 51.7
They could not do things I like to do. 4 16.0 2 6.5 6 10.7
They are always with teaching assistants. 6 20.0 13 42.0 19 34.0
I do not have many opportunities to 10 40.0 10 32.0 20 35.7
see them at school.
I am a little afraid of them. 2 8.0 1 3.2 3 5.4
My friends might tease me. 5 20.0 3 9.7 8 14.3
I feel uncomfortable around them. 3 12.0 4 13.0 7 12.5
I dont know any. 4 16.0 7 22.5 11 19.6
They play with others with disabilities. 1 4.0 1 1.8
They dont talk to me. 2 6.5 2 3.6
Note. The respondents were allowed to mark multiple answers. Percentages = number of answers / total
number of responses.
a
n = 25.
b
n = 31.
TABLE 5
Mean Scores and Standard Deviations Across Friendship Expectation
Categories by Gender
Boys
a
Girls
b
Category M SD M SD
Individual characteristics 2.03 .67 1.94 .60
ICSIM 2.10 .73 1.96 .70
ICFC 2.19 .76 2.00 .70
ICAC 1.85 .87 1.80 .78
Shared activities 2.32 .79 2.45 .71
SASC 2.33 .88 2.52 .81
SAFSC 2.32 .85 2.41 .74
Relationship characteristics 3.27* .85 3.56* .73
IT 2.63 1.14 2.91 1.14
SP 3.47 1.06 3.64 .89
LY 3.68 1.54 4.29 1.56
PP 3.32 1.28 3.81 1.56
Total 2.46 .60 2.52 .56
Note. ICSIM = similarities; ICFC = function/capability; ICAC = appearance/characteristics; SASC =
in-school activities; SAFSC = after-school activities; IT = intimacy; SP = support; LY = loyalty; PP = peer
pressure.
a
n = 28.
b
n = 37.
*p < .05.
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VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2004
211
F(2, 59) = 5.996, p < .01, the mean score
of Grade 6 (M= 2.05, SD = .60) was sig-
nificantly different from that of Grade 7
(M = 2.76, SD = .81).
In the Appearance/Characteristics
within the Individual Characteristics, F(2,
59) = 3.800, p < .05, the mean score of
Grade 6 (M = 1.45, SD = .66) was sig-
nificantly different from that of Grade 8
(M= 2.08, SD= .82). Two subcategories
within the Relationship Characteristics
category were found to be significantly
different across grades. In Intimacy, F(2,
59) = 4.633, p < .05, the mean score of
Grade 7 (M = 3.19, SD = 1.10) was sig-
nificantly different from that of Grade 8
(M = 2.33, SD = .90). Additionally, in
Support, F(2, 59) = 4.025, p < .05, the
mean score of Grade 7 (M = 3.89, SD =
.84) was significantly higher than that of
Grade 8 (M = 3.13, SD = .82).
Friendships With and Without Peers
with Severe Disabilities. Due to the
small sample size of the students who had
friends with severe disabilities (n = 9),
their scores were compared descriptively
to the students who did not have friends
with severe disabilities. Although the mean
scores of the students who had friends
with severe disabilities were not very dif-
ferent across the nine subcategories, they
were consistently lower than those of the
students who did not have friends with
severe disabilities except for the Loyalty
subcategory within the Relationship Char-
acteristics category.
Discussion
The purpose of this exploratory study
was to investigate gender and age factors
in friendship expectations of typical mid-
dle school students toward their peers
with severe disabilities. The results from
this study indicated that middle school
students had somewhat low friendship
expectations toward their peers with
severe disabilities, and there were few
significant differences in friendship ex-
pectations by gender. The friendship ex-
pectations that middle school students
had toward their peers with severe dis-
abilities, however, did differ across grade
level, with students in Grade 6 having
lower expectations than those in Grades
7 and 8. Descriptive data indicate that
there were some gender differences in ac-
tivities done with friends without disabil-
ities both at school and after school, and
activities done with friends with severe
disabilities were different from those
done with friends without disabilities. Ad-
ditionally, results indicate that although
typical middle school students were will-
ing to make friends with peers with se-
vere disabilities, the lack of opportunity
to interact with them, the presence of
paraprofessionals, and peer pressure were
given as reasons for few friendships.
Though the respondents in this study
may have had low expectations for
friendships with peers with severe dis-
abilities, it was interesting that they rated
the category of Relationship Characteris-
tics as being more important than the
other categories. Findings from previous
studies of typical adolescents showed that
intimacy, support, and loyalty were the
most important characteristics for their
friendships (e.g., Bigelow & La Gaipa,
1980). Thus, it appears that middle school
students also regard intimacy, support,
and loyalty as important considerations
for making friends with peers with severe
disabilities.
Most of the research on the friendship
expectations of typical adolescents has
found that girls and boys have somewhat
different expectations for friendships.
Research suggests that girls have higher
expectations for friends, and expect more
empathetic understanding and a higher
level of intimacy as compared to boys
(e.g., Clark & Bittle, 1992). In the pres-
ent study, there were few differences by
gender; however, girls did have higher
expectations for the category of Rela-
tionship Characteristics.
The most significant finding from this
study was that friendship expectations
toward peers with severe disabilities dif-
fered by grade level. Friendship expecta-
tions of students in Grade 6 were lower
than those for students in Grades 7 and
8, and students in Grade 7 seemed to
have the highest friendship expectations
among students in the three grades.
While age has been a factor in friendships
among typical elementary (Buhrmester
& Furman, 1986) and secondary stu-
dents (McNelles & Connolly, 1999), few
studies have looked at this factor with re-
spect to its impact on students with dis-
abilities. However, Hall and McGregor
TABLE 6
Mean Scores and Standard Deviations Across Friendship Expectation
Categories by Grade
Grade 6
a
Grade 7
b
Grade 8
c
Category M SD M SD M SD
Individual characteristics 1.68* .53 2.08 .66 2.22* .59
ICSIM 1.53** .51 2.27** .77 2.20** .60
ICFC 1.91 .77 2.04 .73 2.29 .66
ICAC 1.45* .66 1.90 .87 2.08* .82
Shared activities 2.13* .64 2.71* .78 2.29 .70
SASC 2.26 .88 2.63 .89 2.39 .72
SAFSC 2.05* .60 2.76* .81 2.22 .73
Relationship characteristics 3.42 .87 3.71* .69 3.13* .74
IT 2.78 1.27 3.19* 1.10 2.33* .90
SP 3.65 1.12 3.89* .84 3.13* .82
LY 3.70 2.03 4.21 1.35 4.14 1.31
PP 3.50 1.79 3.58 1.38 3.71 1.23
Total 2.27* .54 2.71* .56 2.47* .55
Note. ICSIM = similarities; ICFC = function/capability; ICAC = appearance/characteristics; SASC =
in-school activities; SAFSC = after-school activities; IT = intimacy; SP = support; LY = loyalty; PP = peer
pressure.
a
n = 20.
b
n = 24.
c
n = 21.
*p < .05. **p < .01.
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FOCUS ON AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
212
(2000) reported that age was a factor in
peer relationships among students with
and without disabilities as they moved
from kindergarten to elementary school.
In their follow-up study, Hall and Mc-
Gregor found that relationships estab-
lished in kindergarten changed and be-
came less typical and more difficult for
students with disabilities when they
reached the upper elementary grades.
Even though sixth graders in the present
study had lower expectations for friend-
ships as compared to seventh and eighth
graders, it may be that their expectations
are higher than those of kindergarten
children. More research is needed that
investigates age-related factors in expec-
tations for friendships.
The finding of higher expectations for
students in Grade 7 may be due to the
onset of puberty; this period of time
has been described as one of increased
friendship fluctuation (Rice, 1987). It
may be that a transition in social growth
occurs at Grade 7; students in this grade
may develop a different set of percep-
tions on being friends with peers with
severe disabilities, particularly because
friendships in early adolescence take on
greater depth and there is a need for
more intimacy and loyalty (Furman &
Buhrmester, 1985). Or, this difference
could have been due to the particular
sample of seventh graders in this study
because none of them had friends with
severe disabilitiesonly sixth and eighth
graders did. Regardless, when we con-
sider future research directions and the
design of intervention strategies to pro-
mote social relationships between stu-
dents with and without disabilities, grade
level in middle school should be consid-
ered.
The descriptive data from the study
also may have implications for future in-
tervention strategies. Because both girls
and boys identified sports activities as the
most frequent activities done with their
peers without disabilities, students with
severe disabilities should be provided with
opportunities to participate in sports.
Educators may want to develop adapted
sports activities in which both students
with and without disabilities participate
(e.g., Block & Malloy, 1998). After-
school activities, in particular, are impor-
tant because friends who spend more
time together outside school often form
close relationships with each other (Hirsch
& DuBois, 1989) and interactions with
friends outside of school settings are typ-
ical among young adolescents (Blyth,
Hill, & Thiel, 1982). Additionally, after-
school activities are voluntary and may be
more closely aligned to student interests
than in-school activities (Karweit, 1983).
The results from this study also showed
that the activities that typical students en-
gaged in with their friends with disabili-
ties were limited in contrast to those
done with their friends without disabili-
ties; both girls and boys named talking as
the major activity done with their friends
with severe disabilities. Because many
students with severe disabilities have dif-
ficulties communicating with others (Kai-
ser, 2000), it is difficult to know the char-
acteristics and depth of the conversations
between these students. However, com-
munication is a basic element for form-
ing relationships with others, so it is
essential that students with severe dis-
abilities be taught to communicate in in-
timate ways. Typical students may also
need to be taught how to communicate
with peers with severe disabilities.
We also need to pay attention to the
settings where typical students meet their
friends with severe disabilities. For exam-
ple, local churches were reported as a
place to meet friends with severe disabil-
ities. Because almost half of Americans
attend church (Bezilla, 1993), and more
than 60% of parents of individuals with
disabilities consider themselves regular
church attenders (McNair & Rusch,
1991), local churches may be a good
place to meet the social needs of individ-
uals with disabilities by providing them
with many natural opportunities to in-
teract with individuals without disabili-
ties (McNair & Swartz, 1997). More
important, this finding may imply that
various community settings outside of
school should be considered as places for
students with severe disabilities to inter-
act with others.
Although many respondents indicated
they were willing to make friends with
students with severe disabilities, insuffi-
cient opportunities to see students with
severe disabilities was reported as a rea-
son for the lack of friends. Physical inte-
gration is an important first step in de-
veloping relationships; however, merely
placing students with disabilities in gen-
eral education settings is not enough to
create actual friendships or social net-
works (e.g., Schnorr, 1997). The pres-
ence of adult teaching assistants was
viewed by study participants as a deter-
rent. Others have reported that when
paraeducators work too closely with stu-
dents with disabilities, it does not allow
typical students and students with dis-
abilities to have natural opportunities to
interact with each other (Giangreco,
Edelman, Luiselli, & MacFarland, 1997).
Although this study suggests some
promising directions for designing inter-
vention strategies, it had several limita-
tions, so the findings must be considered
exploratory and interpreted with cau-
tion. First, the sampling procedures used
in the study could be biased in that only
two schools participated and only one
class per grade was asked to voluntarily
participate. However, the population of
the two schools was similar to that in
other U.S. middle schools (i.e., 46.4% of
schools have a population of more than
750 and 32.4% of schools have a popu-
lation between 500 and 749; National
Center for Educational Statistics, 2000).
The percentage of students with disabil-
ities was also close to the national aver-
age (i.e., 11.26% of those between ages
6 and 17 nationwide compared to 13.6%
of combined population of the schools in
the study; U.S. Department of Educa-
tion, 2001), so the sample in this study
may be similar to other U.S. middle
schools. In addition, although there was
a discrepancy in response rates between
the two schools, a statistical analysis re-
vealed no significant difference between
the schools in terms of gender and grade
level. The overall response rate of 47%
was somewhat low. Consequently, the re-
sults can only be generalized to adoles-
cents who have characteristics similar to
the responding sample.
Second, the sample size of students
who had friends with severe disabilities
was small, which may impact the external
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VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2004
213
validity of the study. Given the limited
sample and small number of participants
who had friends with severe disabilities,
the findings should be interpreted cau-
tiously.
Third, this research relied solely on
survey methodology, which might result
in subjective data. The respondents may
have had a positive response bias and
provided socially acceptable answers
(Heppner et al., 1992). Therefore, the
results may not be an accurate indicator
of what typical students expect about
friendships with peers with severe dis-
abilities. Because social relationships, in-
cluding friendships, are multidimen-
sional and have a dyadic structure, more
systematic explorations (e.g., long-term
direct observations, in-depth interviews
with both students with and without dis-
abilities as well as teachers and parents,
and comparative investigations on friend-
ship expectations for students with and
without disabilities) are necessary. Addi-
tionally, more research is needed on the
MSF to further investigate its psycho-
metric properties.
Even with these limitations, this study
has several implications for future re-
search efforts and educational practice.
First, typical students would like to have
close relationships with their peers with
severe disabilities, but limited opportuni-
ties, peer pressure, and the presence of
paraprofessionals were found to be pos-
sible explanations for why they had diffi-
culty in developing friendships. To sup-
port students with severe disabilities in
the development of peer relationships,
they need more opportunities to meet
peers without disabilities both during and
after school, particularly during sport
activities. Additionally, the roles and re-
sponsibilities of paraeducators need to be
reexamined, particularly if they interfere
with interactions between students with
and without disabilities.
Second, the designers of friendship pro-
grams need to be aware of the social net-
works that exist among typical students.
The dynamics of friendship in young
adolescence may not be simple, so re-
searchers and practitioners should have
extensive knowledge about how typical
students form relationships with others,
how social networks can be constituted
and maintained, what skills are necessary
to enter a certain group of friends, and
what, if any, pressures exist among the
members of a group.
Third, age or grade level may play an
important role in friendship expectations,
and specific strategies should be devel-
oped with age or grade level as a consid-
eration. It may also be appropriate to in-
corporate social relationship programs
into transition programs for students as
they enter middle school. Students in
middle school may be very volatile in
terms of social needs and emotional change
(Bowers, 1995), so systematic transition
approaches could be effective at this
stage while providing many natural op-
portunities to interact with others.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Kyoung Gun Han, PhD, is a visiting assistant
professor in the Department of Special Educa-
tion, Kongju National University, Chung-
nam, Korea. His current interests include in-
struction related to students with significant
disabilities and their social relationships with
typical peers. Janis G. Chadsey, PhD, is a pro-
fessor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign. Her research interests include the
social inclusion of individuals with disabilities
into all settings, transition, and instructional
strategies for teaching communication skills to
individuals with significant disabilities. Ad-
dress: Janis G. Chadsey, Department of Special
Education, University of Illinois, Champaign,
IL 61820; e-mail: chadsey@uiuc.edu
NOTE
The MSF is available from the authors on re-
quest.
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