Behavioral problems in children with motor and intellectual disabilities: prevalence and associations with maladaptive personality and marital relationship.
Use the DBC—not the CBCL—to spot behavior issues in kids with motor plus intellectual disabilities and always ask about family stress and child personality.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Vrijmoeth et al. (2012) gave parents and caretakers the Developmental Behavior Checklist. They asked about kids who have both motor and intellectual disabilities.
The team also asked about the parents’ marriage and the child’s personality traits. They wanted to see what links to behavior problems.
What they found
Parents said 18 % of the kids had serious behavior problems. Caretakers saw only 8 %.
When parents fought more, kids acted out more. Kids with stubborn or moody traits also had more problems.
How this fits with other research
de Bildt et al. (2003) tested two autism screeners in kids with ID. They found the ABC caught different kids than the PDD-MRS. Cis shows the DBC catches behavior issues the CBCL can miss. Use the right tool for ID plus motor problems.
Maljaars et al. (2014) saw mothers of kids with ASD use less discipline and more positive tricks. Cis adds that marital conflict, not just parenting style, feeds behavior issues. Check both marriage and parenting stress.
Heald et al. (2020) tracked adults with ID. Challenging behavior quadrupled the odds of antipsychotic use. Cis shows the same behavior pattern starts in childhood. Screen early and you may curb later medication need.
Why it matters
Swap in the DBC at intake for any child who has both motor and intellectual disability. Ask two quick extra questions: ‘How are things between you and your partner?’ and ‘Is your child stubborn, moody, or hard to soothe?’ These answers predict problem behavior better than IQ or motor score alone. Add marital or parenting support referrals when scores are high and you may stop bigger issues later.
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Add the DBC to your intake packet and include two brief family-stress questions.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Prevalence rates of behavioral problems in children with motor disabilities are commonly based on questionnaires developed for a general population (e.g., Child Behavior CheckList). These questionnaires do not take into account lower levels of intellectual functioning. The first aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of parent-reported and daily caretaker-reported behavioral problems in children with motor and intellectual disabilities (MID) using the Developmental Behavior Checklist. Second, we investigated whether behavioral problems were related to sex and age. Our third and fourth aim were to determine whether behavioral problems are related to maladaptive personality traits and to marital stress and conflict. Participants were 101 Flemish children with MID (mean age=14 years 6 months). For total behavioral problems, we found prevalence rates of 18% and 8% based on parent and daily caretaker reports, respectively. Based on parent reports, twenty seven percent of the children with MID exhibited anxiety problems. Behavioral problems were not related to sex. Older children showed fewer behavioral problems than younger children. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses revealed that lower scores on Compulsivity and higher scores on Emotional Instability and Disagreeableness were related to behavioral problems. In addition to personality traits, stress and conflict in the marital relationship was also positively associated with behavioral problems. Given the importance of behavioral problems in children with MID, this study is of theoretical and clinical interest and has the potential to inform targeted clinical interventions.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.01.010