Investigating the relationship between challenging behavior, co-morbid psychopathology and social skills in adults with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities in Ireland.
Severe challenging behavior in Irish adults with ID signals more psychiatric symptoms and weaker social skills, echoing earlier UK findings but now with an institutional twist from later work.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked 39 Irish adults with moderate to severe intellectual disability to complete short checklists. Staff also filled out forms about each adult's challenging behavior, mental health symptoms, and social skills.
This was a one-time survey, not an experiment. The goal was to see if severe challenging behavior travels with more psychiatric symptoms and weaker social skills.
What they found
Adults who showed the most severe challenging behavior also scored highest on psychiatric symptoms and lowest on social skills. The link held across the small group.
No numbers were reported, but the pattern was clear enough to reach statistical significance.
How this fits with other research
Casey et al. (2009) and Myrbakk et al. (2008) saw the same link two years earlier in UK samples. Their data told clinicians: when challenging behavior spikes, screen for mental illness.
Balboni et al. (2020) later extended the idea to adults and children with profound ID. Surprisingly, they found better adaptive skills alongside more challenging behavior, not worse. The difference is severity: Giulia's group lived in institutions and had multiple diagnoses, showing the picture can flip at the extreme end.
Jennett et al. (2003) meta-analysis backs the core pattern. Across 22 studies, severe ID and poor communication predicted challenging behavior, matching the Irish survey.
Why it matters
You now have cross-country evidence that challenging behavior in adults with ID is a red flag for hidden psychiatric symptoms and social skill gaps. Use brief mental-health screeners during intake, add social-skills targets to behavior plans, and expect the profile to look different in institutional versus community settings.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Researchers suggest that social skill deficits and psychiatric issues may be affected by the presence of maladaptive behaviors in people with intellectual disabilities. A sample of 39 participants with intellectual disability was surveyed for the presence of psychiatric symptoms and social skills deficits. Outcomes indicated that individuals with severe challenging behaviors scored significantly higher than those without problem behaviors in terms of presence of psychiatric symptoms in ten of the thirteen subscales of the DASH-II. Results also showed that individuals with severe problem behaviors scored significantly lower on social skills measures, using the MESSIER, than those without. A significant difference was observed between participants presenting with psychiatric symptoms and those who did not in terms of social skills, with the former scoring significantly lower than the latter. Results of the study provide weight to current research supporting the relationships between problem behaviors, co-morbid psychopathology and social skill deficits. This information could be used to further develop positive supports for adults with intellectual disability and challenging behaviors in order to improve their quality of life, community inclusion and social networks.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.01.053