Psychometric Properties and Utility of the Social Vulnerability Questionnaire for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Giesbers et al. (2020) built and tested a new tool. The tool is called the Social Vulnerability Questionnaire, or SVQ. It asks questions that show how likely a person is to be hurt or taken advantage of.

The team gave the SVQ to adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. They ran two kinds of math checks to see if the questions hang together and measure what they claim to measure.

Both math checks passed. The SVQ is reliable and valid. That means it gives steady scores and truly tracks social risk.

Clinicians can now use the short form to spot who needs safety planning.

Lunsky et al. (2014) also built a brief scale for the IDD world. Their tool tracks staff burnout, while the SVQ tracks client risk. Both use factor analysis and take two minutes to finish.

Moreira et al. (2025) show that quality of life and support needs shape self-determination. The SVQ adds the missing safety piece. Use all three together to see the whole adult.

Festinger et al. (1996) found that social-skills scores do not keep friendships alive. The SVQ goes deeper by asking about real-world threats, not just skills. Skills may open doors, but vulnerability decides what happens next.

You now have a free, ten-item screen that flags victimization risk in adults with IDD. Add it to your intake packet. If the score is high, write a safety goal in the behavior plan and teach self-protection responses. One page, five minutes, big payoff.