Background: Few studies have looked at the prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD) in people with intellectual disability (ID). The results range between 1% and 6.4% and go up to 20% in people with ID and psychiatric disorders, probably underestimating real prevalence due to several limitations in these studies. ID confers risk for the…

Background: The Wellbeing in Special Education Questionnaire was developed to assess subjective wellbeing in young persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) as this perspective is rarely included in research. The present study explored how ID/DD and gender are related to self-reported wellbeing among adolescents. Method:…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are more likely than people in the general population to experience life events associated with an increased risk of mental health problems. However, there has been little research in Japan on the prevalence of mental health problems in adults with intellectual disability (ID) or on associated…

Background: When assessing the mental health needs of people who have intellectual disabilities (ID) it is important to use measures that have good validity and reliability to ensure accurate case recognition and reliable and valid outcome data. Measures developed for this purpose tend to be self-report or by informant report. Multi-trait…

Background: Virtually nothing is known about potential differences in the types of depression symptoms reported by adults with mild intellectual disability (ID) on self-reported questionnaires as compared with the types of symptoms reported by caregivers on informant questionnaires. Moreover, little is known about how the presentation of…

Background: Assessment of psychiatric disorders in persons with an intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) can be performed with a variety of greatly differing instruments. This makes the choice of an instrument best suited for the intended purpose challenging. In this study, we developed a comprehensive set of characteristics for the evaluation…

Background: It is unclear whether the substantial decline in number and duration of admissions for patients with intellectual disability (ID) have occurred uniformly over time with respect to age, gender, severity of disability, legal status and location of treatment. Method: A retrospective analysis of NHS (National Health Service) admissions for…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities (ID) have an increased vulnerability to develop psychiatric problems. Moreover, the early recognition and the accurate diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in the population of persons with ID are challenging. Method: A Dutch version of the Mini PAS-ADD, which is a screening instrument for…

Background: In the general population there are statistically significant urban-rural differences in the rate of common mental disorders. In people with intellectual disability (ID) no study has attempted to address this issue. Aims: To compare the prevalence of mental illness, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and behaviour disorder in people with…

Background: The lack of psychometric measures of psychopathology especially in intellectual disabilities (ID) population was addressed by creation of the Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adult with Developmental Disability (PAS-ADD-10) in Moss et?al. This schedule is a structured interview designed for professionals in psychopathology. The…

Background: Dual diagnosis (DD) refers to the coexistence of intellectual disability and psychiatric disorder. In order to provide individuals with DD with adequate care, it is essential for mental health workers to have adequate knowledge and positive attitudes. These may be achieved through proper training. Aims: To summarise the available…

Background: Anxiety disorders are known to be common in the general population. Previous studies with adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs) report a prevalence of general anxiety disorder ranging from less than 2% to 17.4%. Little is known about associated factors in this population. This study investigates point prevalence of anxiety…

Background: Diagnostics and care for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and psychiatric disorders need to be improved. This can be done by using assessment instruments to routinely measure the nature and severity of psychiatric symptoms. Up until now, in the Netherlands, assessment measures are seldom used in the psychiatric care for this…

Background: Antipsychotics are perceived to be over-used in the management of behavioural problems in people with an intellectual disability (ID). Published guidelines have set good practice standards for the use of these drugs for behavioural indications. We sought to identify the range of indications for which antipsychotic drugs are prescribed…

Background: People with intellectual disability (ID) experience higher rates of major mental disorders than their non-ID peers, but in many countries have difficulty accessing appropriate mental health services. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of mental health services for people with ID using Australia as a case example, and…