Irritability and aggression (IA) are highly prevalent in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although clinical correlates of IA in this population have been previously examined, findings from existing studies capturing symptoms as a set of latent variables do not fully explain meaningful associations between the symptoms themselves.…

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to gain additional insight on patterns of behavior of three individuals dually diagnosed with intellectual disability (ID) and bipolar disorder as they cycled between elevated and depressed mood states. Methods: Data were collected from weekly, one-hour observations across a period of several months. The…

Background: The diagnosis of depression in severe and profound intellectual disability is challenging. Without adequate skills in verbal self-expression, standardized diagnostic criteria cannot be used with confidence. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the assessment and diagnosis of unipolar depression in severe and…

Emotion regulation impairments are common among individuals with autism spectrum disorder and are believed to often underlie commonly seen problems with aggression, depression, and anxiety. The Emotional Awareness and Skills Enhancement program was developed to reduce emotion regulation impairment and thereby improve behavioral disturbance, via…

The association between aberrant behaviour and depression was examined in a sample of 150 young males with Autism Spectrum Disorder via parent ratings on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Major Depressive Disorder subscale of the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory (CASI-4-D). Although several subscales of the ABC were significantly…

Progress in clinical research and in empirically supported interventions in the area of psychopathology in intellectual disabilities (ID) depends on high-quality assessment instruments. To this end, psychometric properties of four instruments were examined: the "Aberrant Behavior Checklist" (ABC), the "Assessment of Dual…

Background: Many people with intellectual disabilities display high levels of anger, and cognitive-behavioural anger management interventions are used routinely. However, for these methods to be used optimally, a better understanding is needed of different forms of anger assessment. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of a…

Caretakers of adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) may report the onset of a depressive illness in previously mentally well individuals. However, the behavioral phenomenology of these conditions has not been well characterized. We ascertained a cohort of DS patient-subjects presenting to a specialty clinic with medical and/or…

Nurses applied standard behavioral criteria for major depression to evaluate 89 institutionalized adults with severe or profound intellectual disability. Results suggested that several additional behaviors listed on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the Developmental Behavior Checklist may be associated with this disorder in this population.…