Association between adaptive behaviour and age in adults with Down syndrome without dementia: examining the range and severity of adaptive behaviour problems.
Adults with Down syndrome keep skill quality but lose skill variety with age, so cast a wide teaching net.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Alaimo et al. (2015) looked at adults with Down syndrome who do not have dementia.
They used the ABAS rating scale to see if adaptive skills shrink with age.
The team counted how many skills were shown and how well each one was done.
What they found
Older adults had lower total scores, but the drop came from fewer skills being used.
When a skill was still present, its quality stayed the same.
Only the practical domain kept the same number of items across ages.
How this fits with other research
McCarron et al. (2002) saw more withdrawal in teens with Down syndrome, hinting that skill loss starts earlier.
Prasher et al. (1995) found sharper cognitive decline after age 40, yet T et al. show adaptive loss is about breadth, not depth.
Visser et al. (2017) prove that strong child motivation predicts better adult skills, so early wide training may slow later narrowing.
Why it matters
You should teach new adaptive skills across all domains before they vanish from the person’s daily routine.
Keep goals broad rather than chasing perfect performance on a few tasks.
Re-check the full ABAS every year and add any missing skill back into the plan right away.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Studies on adaptive behaviour and ageing in adults with Down syndrome (DS) (without dementia) have typically analysed age-related change in terms of the total item scores on questionnaires. This research extends the literature by investigating whether the age-related changes in adaptive abilities could be differentially attributed to changes in the number or severity (intensity) of behavioural questionnaire items endorsed. METHODS: The Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System-II Adult (ABAS-II Adult) was completed by parents and caregivers of 53 adults with DS aged between 16 and 56 years. Twenty adults with DS and their parents/caregivers were a part of a longitudinal study, which provided two time points of data. In addition 33 adults with DS and their parents/caregivers from a cross-sectional study were included. Random effects regression analyses were used to examine the patterns in item scores associated with ageing. RESULTS: Increasing age was found to be significantly associated with lower adaptive behaviour abilities for all the adaptive behaviour composite scores, expect for the practical composite. These associations were entirely related to fewer ABAS-II Adult items being selected as present for the older participants, as opposed to the scores being attributable to lower item severity. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for a differential pattern of age-related change for various adaptive behaviour skills in terms of range, but not severity. Possible reasons for this pattern will be discussed. Overall, these findings suggest that adults with DS may benefit from additional support in terms of their social and conceptual abilities as they age.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2015 · doi:10.1111/jir.12172