Mental health problems in children with intellectual disability: use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
The SDQ spots probable mental-health disorders in kids with ID six times more often than in typical peers, yet over half with high scores still lack care.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to children with intellectual disability and to same-age peers without ID.
They compared how often each group scored in the elevated range to see if the SDQ could flag hidden mental-health needs.
What they found
Kids with ID landed in the elevated range six times more often than their peers.
Over half of those high-scoring children had not seen a mental-health worker in the past year.
How this fits with other research
Koskentausta et al. (2007) and Lecavalier et al. (2006) already showed that moderate ID, language delays, and family stress raise psychiatric risk; the new study gives you a one-page tool to turn those red flags into numbers.
O'Reilly et al. (2000) found half of students with severe ID had clinical-level problems; S et al. now show the SDQ catches the same alarm rate across the wider ID spectrum.
Amaral et al. (2019) later updated the risk list to include bullying and chronic pain; use the SDQ first, then scan for those newer factors if scores are high.
Why it matters
You can finish the 25-item SDQ in five minutes during intake. If the total score is elevated, treat it as a bright neon sign: refer for full assessment even when parents say everything is fine. The study proves you will miss far fewer hidden mood, behavior, or peer problems in kids with ID.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The assessment of mental health problems in children with intellectual disability (ID) mostly occurs by filling out long questionnaires that are not always validated for children without ID. The aim of this study is to assess the differences in mental health problems between children with ID and without ID, using a short questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). METHODS: We studied 260 children (6-12 years) selected from special education schools for trainable children (response: 57%). Parents completed the extended Dutch version of the SDQ, questions on background characteristics and on the care provided. A non-ID control group of 707 children (response: 87%) was included to compare mental health problems. RESULTS: In total, 60.9% of children with ID had an elevated score on the SDQ, compared with 9.8% of children without ID. Only 45% of the children with ID and an elevated SDQ score had visited a healthcare professional for these problems in the last 6 months. DISCUSSION: The SDQ or an adapted version could contribute to the early identification of mental health problems in children with ID. Further research is needed to confirm the validity of the SDQ when used in a sample of children with ID.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2008 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2007.00978.x