The self-perceived physical health of mothers raising children with developmental delay (DD; N = 116) or typical development (TD; N = 129) was examined across child ages 3-9 years, revealing three main findings. First, mothers of children with DD experienced poorer self-rated physical health than mothers of children with TD at each age. Latent…

This study sought to understand the profile of and the factors which impact upon challenging behaviors among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and multiple disabilities (MD). Teachers of 322 and 132 children with ASD and MD, respectively, attending special schools in Singapore, completed the Developmental Behavior Checklist, Teacher…

There has been limited epidemiologic information concerning preschoolers' behavioral and emotional problems in Eastern societies. This study was therefore aimed to investigate behavioral and emotional problems in a large sample of Taiwanese preschoolers using the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.5-5 (CBCL/1.5-5). The CBCL/1.5-5 was scored by…

Total and chronic food refusal (i.e., the refusal of all types of food during a prolonged period) in young children with developmental disabilities can be treated effectively using a combination of environmental interventions. However, no guidelines for the selection of food items to offer the child in these interventions are available. The aim of…

This study examined the associations between children's and adolescents' autistic-like social deficits and school and social adjustment as well as the moderating roles of age and gender in these associations. The sample consisted of 1321 students (48.7% boys) in Grade 1 to Grade 8 from northern Taiwan. Children's and adolescents' autistic-like…

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is characterized by temper tantrums, impulsivity, mood fluctuations, difficulty with change in routine, skinpicking, stubbornness and aggression. Many studies on behavior in PWS are limited by sample size, age range, a lack of genetically confirmed diagnosis of PWS and inconsistent assessment of behavior. The aim of…

The limitations people with profound intellectual disabilities experience in functioning contribute to a vulnerability to self-injurious behavior. Since this problem behavior has important negative consequences for people concerned, examining the effectiveness of treatments is important. In the current meta-analysis, single-case studies…

Previous studies have investigated trajectories of cognitive, language and adaptive functioning in Williams syndrome (WS) but little is known about how other aspects of the Williams syndrome behavioural phenotype change across the life-span. Therefore, the present study examined age associated changes in a number of different domains of…

We investigated the relationship between challenging behavior and co-morbid psychopathology in adults with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) (N=124) as compared to adults with ID only (N=562). All participants were first time referrals to specialist mental health services and were living in community settings.…

Studies in Britain and the US indicate that 10-15% of people with mental retardation show challenging behaviour, like attacking others (aggression), self-injurious behaviour, destruction, and other difficult, disruptive or socially unacceptable acts. Most researchers indicate that challenging behaviour is more common among adolescents and young…