Ageing with an intellectual disability: the impact of personal resources on well-being.
Adults with mild or moderate ID keep steady happiness as they age, and early physical health predicts later mood.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Fahmie et al. (2013) followed 667 adults with mild or moderate intellectual disability for four years. They asked the same questions every year to see if happiness, health, and daily skills stayed steady or dropped as people aged.
The team used surveys, not therapy. They looked at who kept good health and who stayed happy.
What they found
Most well-being scores barely moved. Adults who started the study in better physical health were the ones who felt happier later.
The message: ageing itself does not wreck quality of life for people with mild or moderate ID.
How this fits with other research
Vos et al. (2010) seems to disagree. They saw lower happiness in people with profound ID. The gap is severity: the 2013 study left out the profound group, so both papers can be true.
Gillooly et al. (2025) carried the idea into COVID-19. They found adults with ID who kept walking or working stayed happier, matching the health-to-happiness link.
Bartlo et al. (2011) pooled earlier trials and showed exercise lifts strength and mood. Their review supports the same health pathway spotted in the 2013 survey.
Why it matters
You can reassure families: getting older does not doom happiness. Use baseline health checks and build movement, good food, and medical follow-ups into plans. Small habits today predict smiles four years later.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The population of ageing people with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) is growing rapidly. This study examines how personal resources (physical health, mental health and social networks) impact the well-being of ageing people with ID. METHODS: Longitudinal survey data on 667 people with a mild or moderate ID were acquired via interviews in 2006 and 2010. Indicators of personal resources (physical health, mental health and social networks) were assessed, as were indicators of well-being (satisfaction with life, happiness and loneliness). Additionally, data on background characteristics and autonomy were gathered. RESULTS: The results show that age is positively related to decreased mobility and auditory disabilities and negatively related to independent living, autonomy in how one spends one's leisure time and autonomy in decision-making. Longitudinal analyses demonstrated that, with the exception of health that deteriorated, and social satisfaction that improved, almost all variables remained stable over the 4-year period. Further, good physical health in 2006 predicted happiness in 2010. CONCLUSION: Despite the fact that age is associated with poorer physical and mental health and a smaller social network, this study showed that older people with ID have relatively high levels of well-being. Findings are discussed in the light of coping with ageing and impact of life events.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2013 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2012.01607.x