A cross-lagged study of psychosocial adaptation among students with visual impairments: Coping, self-esteem, and social integration

As three key indicators of psychosocial adaptation, coping, self-esteem, and social integration are vital for students with visual impairments. This study aimed to examine the reciprocal relationships among visually impaired students’ coping, self-esteem, and social integration. Students with visual impairments (NTime1 = 311, NTime2 = 170) from four special schools in mainland China responded to three inventories at two timepoints over one year. Cross-lagged panel modelling was performed to analyse the data. After controlling for gender, self-esteem positively predicted self-directed coping and negatively predicted relinquished-control coping. An inverse path was found in the prediction of relinquished-control coping to self-esteem. Social integration positively predicted self-esteem. Furthermore, gender did not moderate the relationships in the cross-lagged model. Evidence is provided for a negative loop between self-esteem and relinquished-control coping. Social integration could be a precursor of self-esteem, and self-esteem could be a precursor of self-directed coping. Moreover, the study has practical implications for special schools, teachers, parents, and students on enhancing visually impaired students’ psychosocial adaptation.