This explorative research aims to expand the knowledge about the influence of the direct environment on the challenging behaviour of people with a severe/profound intellectual disability by...Show moreThis explorative research aims to expand the knowledge about the influence of the direct environment on the challenging behaviour of people with a severe/profound intellectual disability by exploring the relationship between challenging behaviour and consensus between caretakers concerning their opinion about caring. Adaptive developmental level, gender, and the proximity of the direct environment were also assessed as potential factors relating to challenging behaviour. 76 persons with severe/profound intellectual disability were part of this research and their caretakers were interviewed and asked to fill out several questionnaires about the behaviour of the person. The results showed that adaptive developmental level, gender, and the proximity of the caretakers do not significantly correlate with the relationship between consensus and challenging behaviour. However, a Mann-Whitney U analysis showed a significant relationship between more consensus and less anti-social behaviour. The results have to be interpreted with caution, because of the low validity of some instruments. Therefore, further research is recommended in order to gain more insight into the relationship between consensus between caretakers and challenging behaviour of people with a severe/profound intellectual disability.Show less
Objective: This study examined the ability of the Short Form Informant Questionnaire of Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (SFIQCODE), to identify dementia in individuals with intellectual disability...Show moreObjective: This study examined the ability of the Short Form Informant Questionnaire of Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (SFIQCODE), to identify dementia in individuals with intellectual disability. Standard screening tools to assess for dementia, are not suitable for use with this population, more sensitive dementia screening tools are needed. This study also examined if participant levels of depression are linked to cognitive decline, and if there is a relationship between cognitive decline and difficulties performing activities of daily living (ADL). Methods: This study forms part of a longitudinal, observational study. Data gathered over two periods named Waves 3 and 4, included 740 participants over 40 years of age along with their carers who acted as respondents. ROC curve analysis was carried out to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the SFIQCODE to identify dementia in individuals with intellectual disability. Correlational analysis examined SFIQCODE scores in relation to levels of depression and binary logistic regression examined the association between SFIQCODE scores and ability to perform ADL. Results: ROC curve analysis of SFIQCODE scores in Wave 3 indicated sensitivity = 0.77 and specificity = 0.86 of the SFIQCODE to correlate with a dementia diagnosis at cut-off score of 3.3 and sensitivity = 0.60 and specificity = 0.96 at a cut-off of 4. In Wave 4, for a cut-off score of 3.3, the ROC curve analysis indicated sensitivity = 0.35 and specificity = 0.85. At a cut-off of 4, sensitivity = 0.25 and specificity = 0.94. In Wave 3 correlational analysis found r(135) = .33, p < .001 between carer reported depression and SFIQCODE scores. In Wave 4 the correlation between carer reported depression scores and SFIQCODE scores was r(50) = .26, p = .062. Logistic regression identified non-significant associations between SFIQCODE scores and ADL. Conclusions: The SFIQCODE has potential for identifying dementia in individuals with intellectual disability. The correlation between carer reported depression and SFIQCODE scores within waves suggests depression and cognitive decline may be linked in individuals with intellectual disability. No relationship was found between SFIQCODE scores and ability to perform ADL. This study identifies the importance of all-encompassing health-care for individuals with intellectual disability.Show less
The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying factors of presentation anxiety in adolescents with Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disabilities (MBID). This was done by addressing two key...Show moreThe aim of this study was to investigate the underlying factors of presentation anxiety in adolescents with Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disabilities (MBID). This was done by addressing two key questions. Firstly, as people with MBID are at risk for developing an insecure attachment and an insecure attachment is related to low social trust, we investigated whether social trust is related to presentation anxiety in adolescents with MBID. Secondly, we studied whether interpretation bias is a mediator in the relation between social trust and presentation anxiety in these adolescents. Adolescents with MBID completed a series of questionnaires, namely the Children’s Generalized Trust Believes (CGTB), the Adolescents’ Interpretation and Belief Questionnaire (AIBQ) and the Personal Report for Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA). These questionnaires were administered to measure the adolescents’ levels of social trust, interpretation bias and presentation anxiety. Their teachers also rated the adolescents’ levels of presentation anxiety on the PRPSA teacher report. We found no evidence for a relation between social trust and presentation anxiety, both for self-reports and teacher reports. Furthermore, interpretation bias was no mediator in this relation. However, after specifying for interpretation bias in social situations, a positive correlation was found between negative interpretation bias in social situations and self-reports of presentation anxiety. In addition, we found a positive relation between social trust and teacher reported presentation anxiety. These results are taken to suggest that adolescents with MBID with a negative interpretation bias in social situations, experience more presentation anxiety. Furthermore, we can conclude that higher social trust in adolescents with MBID is related to higher reports of presentation anxiety by their teachers.Show less
It is known that adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID) take more risks than typically developing adolescents. To gain more knowledge in which factors underlies this...Show moreIt is known that adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID) take more risks than typically developing adolescents. To gain more knowledge in which factors underlies this increased risk-taking, this study investigated whether inhibition capacity is a predicting factor of susceptibility to peer influence in adolescents with MBID. To investigate this, a group with adolescents with MBID was compared to a typically developing control group. The sample comprised of 27 completed questionnaires, the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART; in a peer or solo condition), assessing risk taking and a stop signal task (SST) assessing inhibition. Analyses indicated that (a) risk taking behavior increased when manipulated with peer influence; (b) peer effects were not different for adolescents with MBID than typically developing adolescents; (c) adolescents with MBID showed no lower inhibition response compared to adolescents without MBID and (c) inhibition was not a predictor for increased susceptibility to peer influence. Surprisingly, these findings were not consistent with our hypotheses. However, this is the first study investigating the underlying mechanisms for susceptibility to peer influence in adolescents with MBID. Results of this study may serve as key directions for future research.Show less
