Self-concept and self-esteem among children and young adults with visual impairment: A systematic review

“Self-esteem can be conceptualized as the level of global regard that a person has for him- or herself as an individual (Leary & Baumeister, 2000).”

“Rosenberg (1979) and Harter (1993) both claim that a person who perceives him- or herself as competent in domains in which he or she aspires to excel will have positive self-esteem.”

“The tool, which was developed to assess the quality of studies on one topic but using different approaches or designs, has been found to have good reliability and validity (Sirriyeh et al., 2012).”

“Overprotection could leave them feeling less attractive and competent, and consequently they could experience additional frustration and emotional or behavioral problems (Huurre & Aro, 1998, 2000).”

“However, Kef (2002) found that adolescents with VI reported slightly higher levels of self-esteem than the sighted adolescents.”

“Two studies found that the severity of children’s VI did not influence their self-concept (Huurre et al., 1999; Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013); by contrast, four studies found the opposite results for self-esteem (Bowen, 2010a; Garaigordobil & Bernarás, 2009; Papadopoulos, 2014; Were et al., 2010).”

“All of the studies had a cross-sectional design, except for three interventional studies (Bowen, 2010b; Shapiro et al., 2005, 2008).”

“Three studies from Finland showed that girls with VI had lower self-esteem than girls without VI, while boys with VI seemed to be well adjusted with respect to their self-esteem (Huurre & Aro, 1998, 2000; Huurre et al., 1999).”

“VI compared with no VI Five studies showed that children and young adults with VI scored lower on self-concept and selfesteem than did children without VI (Gronmo & Augestad, 2000; Halder & Datta, 2012; LopezJusticia, Pichardo, Amezcua, & Fernandez, 2001; Mishra & Singh, 2012; Rosenblum, 2000).”

“Huurre and Aro (2000) claim that the findings are indicative of different coping mechanisms or different ways of expressing health differences between boys and girls.”

“Saigal et al. (2002) claim that the self-esteem and social and emotional well-being of children are important domains that one should monitor closely in children considered to have higher risk of problems with adjustment.”

“Therefore, a person’s self-esteem may be dependent upon his or her psychological adjustment, the quality of life, adaptive behavior, relationships with friends, motivation, school performance, and success in life (Brooks, 1992; Papadopoulos, Metsiou, & Agaliotis, 2011; Saigal, Lambert, Russ, & Hoult, 2002).”

“The inclusion of children with VI in mainstream schools did not seem to have a negative influence on their self-esteem (Gronmo & Augestad, 2000).”

“This finding is in line with results reported by Halder and Datta (2011).”

“The results of the study conducted by Roy and MacKay (2002) showed that young adults with low vision had poorer selfevaluation and identity than those who were blind.”

“With regard to self-esteem and self-concept, Bowen (2010a) and Were et al. (2010) found that girls with VI had better scores than boys with VI, but two other studies did not find gender differences (Datta & Talukdar, 2016; Mishra & Singh, 2012).”

“On the other hand, seven studies did not find these differences (Bolat, Dogangun, Yavuz, Demir, & Kayaalp, 2011; Garaigordobil & Bernarás, 2009; Griffin-Shirley & Nes, 2005; Huurre et al., 1999; Konarska, 2007; Lifshitz, Hen, & Weisse, 2007; Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013).”

“Beaty (1991) suggests that young people with VI have lower self-concept than their peers without VI, in a number of dimensions.”

“Children’s emotional or behavioral performances differ according to different age and development stages (Papadopoulos, 2014; Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013).”

“Bowen (2010b) conducted an educational intervention study of children with VI who had low self-esteem.”

“Rosenberg (1979) and Harter (1993) both claim that a person who perceives him- or herself as competent in domains in which he or she aspires to excel will have positive self-esteem.”

“Some researchers suggested that parents and teachers played important roles in the development of identity, moral judgment, social interaction, and physical self-behavior among children with VI (Bowen, 2010b; Cardinali & D’Allura, 2001; Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013).”

“…been affected by their parents’ education (Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013), parenting style (Cardinali & D’Allura, 2001), higher social class (Kotb et al., 2011), age (Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013), and whose other children had problem behaviors (Lopez-Justicia et al., 2001; Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013).”

“Introduction Rosenberg (1979) and Harter (1993) both claim that a person who perceives him- or herself as competent in domains in which he or she aspires to excel will have positive self-esteem.”

“Social support and friendship Social support, especially friendship (Huurre et al., 1999, 2001; Shapiro et al., 2008), seemed to be important for enhancing the self-esteem or self-concept of children with VI.”

“” However, children with visual impairment (VI) may have lower self-esteem because the challenges they face in life differ from those faced by sighted children (Alexander, 1996; Hadidi & Al Khateeb, 2013; Konarska, 2007).”

“Children’s emotional or behavioral performances differ according to different age and development stages (Papadopoulos, 2014; Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2013).”

“Social support, especially friendship (Huurre et al., 1999, 2001; Shapiro et al., 2008), seemed to be important for enhancing the self-esteem or self-concept of children with VI. Al-Zyoudi (2007) concluded that, compared with boys with low vision, girls with low vision had lower scores on…”

“Bowen (2010b) conducted an educational intervention study of children with VI who had low self-esteem.”

“These differences can also affect a child’s perception of his or her moral, personal, physical, and social self-esteem (Bracken, 1995).”

“The QATSDD has been widely used within systematic reviews (Augestad 2017; Blackwell et al. 2016; Lydon et al. 2017) and has been shown to produce reliable coding among raters (Sirriyeh et al., 2012).”

“In children, vision loss limits potential maximization as it affects motor skills and emotional development [9], self-image [10, 11], academic prowess [12, 13], and social relations [14].”

“…may be dependent upon his or her psychological adjustment, quality of life, adaptive behaviour, relationships with friends, motivation, school performance, and success in life (Augestad, 2017b; Brooks, 1992; Papadopoulos, Metsiou, & Agaliotis, 2011; Saigal, Lambert, Russ, & Hoult, 2002).”

“Augestad (2017) did a systematic review on 26 relevant studies between 1998 and 2016 and pointed out that research results were divergent regarding whether the visually impaired would show lower level of selfesteem than the sighted, several factors such as social support, gender, and parenting…”

“Unfortunately, findings of Augestad (2017) posited that children with disabilities are often regarded as ill or in need of constant care and are therefore not provided with equal opportunities to participate in sporting events in their societies as compared with their counterparts without…”

“7,19 Considering the challenges that children with VIs experience and the long-lasting detrimental effects on their social-emotional and physical development, it becomes imperative that they receive adequate support during early childhood.”

“[34] Some children with disabilities attend residential schools for the blind, others are enrolled in regular classrooms.[34] Meanwhile, the environment that a child grew up in and the variations influence the child’s physical, and social self-esteem.”

“substantial, particularly among children among whom vision impairment is associated with impaired cognitive, language, and socioemotional development ( Warren, 1994 ); academic achievement ( Resnikoff et al., 2008 ); and self-esteem ( Augestad, 2017 ).”

“2, 2017 102 and thus can allow them to encounter with new challenges and to assess their capabilities (23).”

“Previous reviews have revealed alarming mental health trends in CYPVI (Augestad, 2017a; Augestad, 2017b; Demmin & Silverstein, 2020; Langelaan et al., 2007; Li et al., 2024).”

“…rates of rates of mental health disorders amongst older children (Kessler et al. 2007), as well as associations between child mental health problems, physical health, chronic illness and disabilities (Pinquart & Shen, 2011a, 2011b; Augestad, 2017; Jiang, Kubwimana, Eaton, Kuper, & Bright, 2020).”

“Existing studies exploring the impact of VI on aspects of psychological and emotional wellbeing during childhood and adolescence largely rely on data collected using self-report measures, which are administered at one time point [24, 25].”

“For example, research has demonstrated a correlation between visual impairment and lower self-esteem [15].”

“Children with visual impairment have sometimes been found to have lower self-esteem than their sighted peers (Augestad, 2017).”

“In a systematic review of studies, Augestad (2017) found that having social support and friendships were some of the factors contributing to better self-concept and self-esteem of children and youth with visual impairments.”

“Self-esteem plays a vital role in fostering the confidence and motivation necessary for children to excel both academically and personally [45, 46].”

“Based on these findings, it is reasonable to assert that distance education facilitates and makes the university process accessible to students with VI.”

“Study by Augestad (2017) explained that negative experience can affect individual’s self-esteem and self-concept.”

“SWVIs experiencing poor psychological adjustment, poor quality of life, having limited adaptive behavior, having poor social interactions with sighted peers, and having poor academic performance may have poor self-esteem and be poorly motivated to learn mathematics (Augestad, 2017).”

“According to Augestad (2017), low selfesteem may develop if there is a difference between a person’s expectations and their perception of their competence.”

“A systematic review by Augestad (2017) showed that, in some studies, the self-confidence and self-concept of children with VI are lower than those of healthy children, and the higher the degree of VI or the younger the child, the lower the self-concept.”

“Compared with their peers without disabilities, they experience to a greater degree emotional difficulties (Brossard-Racine et al., 2012; Dix, 2011) and have lower self-esteem (Augestad, 2017; Zuppardo et al., 2021).”

“The ability to move independently has an impact on a person’s self-esteem by giving a sense of self-evaluation and well-being (Augestad, 2017).”

“The studies carried out in this field have found heterogeneous results, some of them showing that the self-esteem of adolescents with VI is lower than those without VI, others showing that there are no significant differences (Augestad, 2017; Griffin-Shirley & Nes, 2005).”

“Vision is important for early learning, development, socialisation skills, self-esteem, and self-confidence in children (Augestad, 2017; Chandna & Gilbert, 2010).”

“Consequently, the loss of vision affects people’s independence and thus lowers their self-esteem and self-confidence (Augestad, 2017; Dibainia et al., 2013; Evans et al., 2007; Manduchi & Kurniawan, 2011).”

“Therefore, there is no clear conclusion regarding the self-esteem of visually impaired children, but all studies seem to indicate, according to Augestad (2017), that friendship, socialisation, parenting and autonomy in movement and various activities have special importance for the way the self is…”

“These difficulties may lead to challenges in interpreting social cues, navigating complex environments, and maintaining attention—especially when visual scenes are cluttered with irrelevant details—thereby hindering participation in daily activities [2,5].”

“High self-esteem and social support are positively linked in individuals with visual impairments (Augestad, 2017; Huurre, 2000; Huurre & Aro, 1998; Huurre et al., 1999; Tuttle & Tuttle, 2004), as well as to independence in fulfilling daily activities (Beach et al., 1995), perceived independence…”

“Companionship and attention is needed to help students improve their self-concept (Augestad, 2017).”

“Regrettably, evidence-based studies have found lower self-esteem scores among the blind population (Augestad 2017; Meighan 1971; Salehi et al.”

“Finally, understanding these relationships is critical for promoting both academic success and social inclusion among students with visual impairment, which remains a cornerstone of equitable education [4].”

“Adolescents who are blind or have low vision experience lower well-being, including poorer mental health outcomes and lower life satisfaction (Augestad, 2017; Boadi-Kusi et al., 2023; Choi et al., 2018; Habib & Irshad, 2018; Li et al., 2022; Oliveira et al., 2018; Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2011).”

“…high self-esteem were found to be more resistant to life ’ s challenges and dif fi culties than those with low self-esteem, giving people with high self-esteem a better chance of success (Kazemi et al., 2017), which can be fostered through independence, and strong social support (Augestad, 2017).”

“As children grow older, they tend to seek more interaction with friends than with their parents or siblings, which allows them to develop independence and improve their well-being through various activities (Olsen et al., 2008 cited in Augestad, 2017).”

“…of autonomy and accessibility of places), social participation (e.g. spending more time on indoor and individual activities), school life (e.g. poor education outcomes), relationships (e.g. face bullying and stigmatization) and mental health (e.g. low self-esteem, concerns toward the future) [2–7].”

“Studies have found that subjective body feelings of individuals are more likely to affect people’s life satisfaction than objective body image (Augestad & Elmer, 2017; Halder & Datta, 2012; L. Zhang, 2007), thus, promoting the development of self-concept.”

“Nonverbal information, such as facial expressions and body language, is dif fi cult for children with visual impairments to access, which makes it dif fi cult for them to fully understand the social intentions of other people and learn social etiquette (Augestad, 2017a).”

“The lack of change in students’ reports may reflect the consistency in their self-image and SES perceptions over time (Augestad & Elmer, 2017).”

“Au niveau de l’adaptation sociale et de la perception sociale de soi, des facteurs tels que l ’ âge, la sévérité de la DV et l’indépendance en orientation et mobilité semblent jouer un rôle clé (Augestad et Elmer, 2017 ; Papadopoulos et al., 2011).”

“Augestad (2017) tanulmánya szerint a látássérült lányok önbecsülése alacsonyabb, mint a látássérült fiúké.”

“The unique needs of children with hearing impairment are not met, which leads to social-emotional disadvantage, social encouragement, low self-concept, and low self-esteem ([5-6]).”