Computer use of adolescents with and without visual impairment.

We examined the usage of computers in 171 adolescents with visual impairment and 515 sighted peers. Participants reported computer ownership and hours per week using the computer for school, video games, music, movies, photographs, searching for information, communication and shopping. Adolescents with visual impairment reported higher rates of overall computer usage than sighted peers, due to higher usage for school work and searching for information. In addition, adolescents who are blind used their computers more often for communication and less often for dealing with photographs than adolescents with low vision. Furthermore, higher usage of computer was associated with higher age, male gender, lower vision status and worse marks in school. Finally, positive associations between computer use and having a romantic partner as well as belonging to a peer-group were stronger in adolescents with visual impairment than in sighted adolescents. Conclusions for further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]