Examining the psychometrics of the Psychopathology Inventory for Mentally Retarded Adults-II for individuals with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities.

With growing recognition of the occurrence of psychological disorders in individuals with intellectual disability (ID), researchers and clinicians alike have placed emphasis on developing measures to assess for psychopathologies in this population. Despite an increased interest in the topic, there is still a dearth of psychometrically robust measures available to assess for psychopathology in adults with mild and moderate ID. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a revised measure for psychopathology in individuals with mild and moderate ID, the Psychopathology Inventory for Mentally Retarded Adults - second edition (PIMRA-II). Internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and test-retest reliability were investigated. Validity was studied via convergent validity by comparing the PIMRA-II to the Assessment of Dual Diagnosis (ADD) and via discriminate validity by comparing the PIMRA-II to the Social Performance Survey Schedule (SPSS) prosocial scores. Lastly, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the factor structure of the scale.

An examination of specific daily living skills deficits in adults with profound intellectual disabilities.

While some researchers have investigated daily living skills deficits in individuals with intellectual disability (ID) as a whole, research on specific daily living skills in a profound ID population is limited. Two hundred and four adults with profound ID residing in two large developmental centers in the southeast portion of the United States were studied. Data were collected on these individuals' daily living skills, utilizing the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). Three dependent t-tests were conducted comparing the proportion of items endorsed by informants on each of the three subdomains of daily living skills on the VABS (personal, domestic, and community). A significantly larger proportion of Personal Subdomain items were endorsed compared to Domestic or Community Subdomain items. Additionally, participants exhibited a significantly larger proportion of Domestic Skills Subdomain items compared to Community Skills Subdomain items which is consistent with theoretical models suggesting that institutional living may curb broader community skill sets. No gender differences were found in daily living skills. Lastly, individuals between the ages 30 and 39 exhibited significantly more Personal Subdomain skills than individuals who were 60 or older, while participants between the ages 30 and 39 exhibited significantly more Domestic Subdomain skills than individuals between the ages 60 and 69.

Discriminant analysis of the autism spectrum disorder observation for children.

PURPOSE: To run a discriminant analysis on the individual items and the total scale of the ASD-OC to determine if they significantly discriminated between ASD and atypical groups. METHOD: The measure was administered to 78 children as part of an outpatient evaluation. RESULTS: The DA revealed that all of the items, excluding five, were significant predictors by themselves. Additionally, Wilks' lambda was significant, λ = 0.16, χ(2)= 115.91, p < 0.001 for the function, indicating that all of the items together significantly discriminated between groups. The DA was run again excluding those items mentioned above and the variability accounted for by all of the items and prediction of group membership decreased. Therefore, all 45 items were retained for inclusion in the final version of the ASD-OC. CONCLUSION: The ASD-OC is able to discriminate between ASD and atypical groups.

An examination of specific communication deficits in adults with profound intellectual disabilities.

Previous research has shown that adults with intellectual disability (ID) evince communication deficits. These communication problems can be divided into problems with receptive, expressive, and written domains. While much research has been devoted to investigating communication deficits in ID in general, scant research has been conducted on communication skills in specific levels of ID. This study examined 204 adults with profound ID residing in two large supports and services centers in the southeastern region of the United States. Data was collected on these individuals' receptive, expressive, and written communication skills using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). Three dependent t-tests were conducted comparing the proportion of items endorsed by informants on each of the three communication subdomains (receptive, expressive, and written) with one another. Participants displayed a significantly larger proportion of receptive subdomain items than expressive subdomain items, t(203) = 20.00, p < 0.01, and written subdomain items, t(203) = 20.53, p < 0.01. Additionally, it was found that the individuals exhibited a significantly larger proportion of expressive subdomain items than written subdomain items, t(203) = 10.80, p < 0.01. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Scaling methods to measure psychopathology in persons with intellectual disabilities.

Psychopathology prior to the last four decades was generally viewed as a set of problems and disorders that did not occur in persons with intellectual disabilities (ID). That notion now seems very antiquated. In no small part, a revolutionary development of scales worldwide has occurred for the assessment of emotional problems in persons with ID. The first standardized test to emerge was the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults (PIMRA) in 1984. Since that time, an impressive number of measures of general psychopathology have emerged for adults and children as well as for persons across the full range of levels of ID. The purpose of this review was to provide a description of available measures, to review papers published on these measures, and to discuss emerging trends in test development. The trends in this body of information for enhancing differential diagnosis of psychopathology in persons with ID are discussed.

The occurrence of challenging behaviours in children with autism spectrum disorders and atypical development.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the occurrence of challenging behaviours in children with ASDs and atypical development. DESIGN: This study is a descriptive non-experimental design that inspects the frequencies of challenging behaviours among two diagnostic groups. This type of methodology is important since research in this area is still in the beginning stages of development. METHODS: The sample consisted of 2131 children, with 633 having an ASD and 1498 having atypical development. The Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits-Part 3 (BISCUIT-Part 3) assesses problematic behaviours within this population. The frequencies of challenging behaviours were examined along with an inspection of the co-occurring items. RESULTS: Greater percentages of problematic behaviours were found in the ASD group as compared to the group with atypical development. CONCLUSION: Challenging behaviours are variables affecting the behavioural presentation of those with ASDs and may be considered into the treatment plans for these children.