Substance abuse among individuals with intellectual disabilities.
People with ID use substances less often but suffer more harm and are shut out of treatment.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team read 37 books, articles, and reports about people with intellectual disability and drugs or alcohol.
They pulled every number and quote to see how common use is, who gets hurt, and who can get help.
What they found
Use is low, but harm is high.
Treatment programs rarely take clients with ID, so problems stay hidden and grow.
How this fits with other research
Slayter (2010) saw the same low rate—only 2.6 % of Medicaid clients with ID had a substance-abuse label.
Chaplin et al. (2011) found 8 % current use in mental-health referrals, showing the rate climbs when you look in clinics instead of claims.
Clarke et al. (2017) later showed almost half of adults with mild ID living alone drink or smoke, proving independence itself is a risk factor.
Boudreau et al. (2015) then tracked prisoners with ID and found heavy poly-drug use, extending the risk into justice settings.
Why it matters
You will miss the problem if you only ask about daily use. Ask about consequences—mood swings, job loss, police contact. Then fight for a slot in standard treatment; the literature shows people with ID can benefit when programs simply slow down and use plain language.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individuals with disabilities are a growing population that confronts multiple disadvantages from social and environmental determinants of health. In particular, the 7-8 million people in the U.S. with an intellectual disability (ID) suffer disproportionately from substance use problems, largely because of a lack of empirical evidence to inform prevention and treatment efforts for them. Although available research could inform future research efforts, studies are scattered across disciplines with the last review synthesizing findings written more than five years ago. To consider more recent findings with earlier works, PubMed, PsychINFO, and Google Scholar were searched and produced 37 peer-reviewed texts across multiple disciplines, 15 from 2006 or later. While the prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use in this population are low, the risk of having a substance-related problem among ID substance users is comparatively high. Gaps in the research and population subgroups that warrant special attention are identified, such as individuals with borderline and mild ID, individuals with co-occurring mental illness, and individuals who are incarcerated. Compared with substance abusers without ID, ID substance abusers are less likely to receive substance abuse treatment or remain in treatment. Research is needed to better gauge the magnitude of substance use problems, identify prevention strategies, and specify treatment components that meet the unique needs of individuals with ID.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.02.009