A preliminary investigation into the utility of the Adult Behavior Checklist in the assessment of psychopathology in people with low IQ

Background: Achenbach & Rescorla (2003) recently developed the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL) to assess psychopathology in the general population. The ABCL should be completed by a proxy informant. The use of proxy informants, instead of self-reporting, makes the ABCL potentially suitable for the assessment of psychopathology in adults with intellectual disability. The aim of the present study was to examine reliability and validity of the ABCL in 124 adults with mild intellectual disability or low IQ, and severe challenging behaviour referred for residential treatment. Methods: The ABCL was completed by two independent informants to assess inter-rater reliability. To examine the validity of the ABCL, its relationship with three measures of functioning was assessed. Furthermore, association between scales of the ABCL and DSM-IV axis I disorders was examined. Results: The ABCL was reliable in terms of internal consistency of its scales, and inter-rater reliability. Relationships between clusters of axis I DSM-IV disorders and scales of the ABCL were found as expected. Moreover, ABCL scales predicted different measures of functioning. Conclusions: The ABCL appears to be a reliable and valid measure to assess psychopathology in persons with mild intellectual disabilities or low IQ, admitted for treatment in facilities for adults with mild intellectual disability and severe challenging behaviour. © 2007 The Authors

Incidence, types and characteristics of aggressive behaviour in treatment facilities for adults with mild intellectual disability and severe challenging behaviour

Background: Inpatient aggression in treatment facilities for persons with intellectual disability (ID) can have aversive consequences, for co-clients and staff, but also for the aggressors themselves. To manage and eventually prevent inpatient aggressive incidents, more knowledge about their types and characteristics is necessary. Method: In four facilities, totalling 150 beds, specialized in the treatment of adults with mild ID or severe challenging behaviour, aggressive incidents were registered during 20weeks using the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised. Characteristics of auto-aggressive and outwardly directed incidents and differences in their incidence in male and female clients in these facilities were compared. Results: During the observation period of 20 weeks, 639 aggressive incidents were documented. Most of these (71%) were outwardly directed, predominantly towards staff, while most of the remaining incidents were of an auto-aggressive nature. Of the 185 clients present during the observation period, 44% were involved in outwardly directed incidents (range per client 1-34), and 12% in auto-aggressive incidents (range per client 1-92). Auto-aggressive and outwardly directed incidents differed regarding source of provocation, means used during the incident, consequences of the incident and measures taken to stop the incident. The proportion of men and women involved in each type of incident was comparable, as well as the majority of the characteristics of outwardly directed incidents caused by men and women. Conclusions: Although approximately half of all clients were involved in aggressive incidents, a small minority of clients were responsible for the majority of incidents. Therefore, better management and prevention of aggressive incidents for only a small group of clients could result in a considerable overall reduction of aggressive incidents in treatment facilities. Comparability of aggressive behaviour in these facilities shown by men and women and differences in characteristics of auto-aggressive and outwardly directed incidents are discussed. © 2007 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Dimensions of personality pathology in adolescents: Relations to DSM-IV personality disorder symptoms

The aim of the present study was to relate and compare two approaches to personality pathology in adolescents. Dimensions of personality pathology, assessed by the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire for Adolescents (DAPP-BQ-A; Tromp & Koot, 2008), were related to DSM-IV personality disorder (PD) symptoms in 168 adolescents referred for mental health services. Correlational analyses revealed that the DAPP-BQ-A higher- and lower-order dimensions were related to PD symptoms in predictable ways. Regression analyses showed that for all but three PDs (Schizoid, Schizotypal, and Passive-Aggressive), lower-order dimensions accounted for unique variance, after controlling for gender, age, and co-occurring PD symptoms. It is concluded that dimensional assessment may provide valuable information on adolescent personality pathology, and facilitate the study of developmental antecedents of adult personality pathology. © 2009 The Guilford Press

Risk factors for psychopathology in children with intellectual disability: A prospective longitudinal population-based study

Background: This study examined risk factors for the development of psychopathology in children with intellectual disability (ID) in the developmental, biological, family and social-ecological domains. Methods: A population sample of 968 children, aged 6-18, enrolled in special schools in the Netherlands for educable and trainable ID were assessed at Time 1. A random 58% were re-contacted about 1 year later, resulting in a sample of 474 at Time 2. Results: Psychopathology was highly consistent over 1 year. Risk factors jointly accounted for significant, but small, portions of the variance in development of psychopathology. Child physical symptoms, family dysfunction and previous parental mental health treatment reported at Time 1 were uniquely associated with new psychopathology at Time 2. Conclusions: Prevention and early intervention research to find ways to reduce the incidence of psychopathology, possibly targeting family functioning, appear important. © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Psychopathology in children: Improvement of quality of life without psychiatric symptom reduction

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between change in psychopathology and Quality of Life (QoL) across time in children with high levels of psychopathology. Methods: A referred sample of 126 seven- to 19-year-olds was studied across a 1-year follow-up period. Information concerning QoL and psychopathology was obtained from parents. Results: Overall, 38.1% of children showed neither psychiatric symptom reduction nor QoL improvement, 33.3% of children showed both a clinically significant psychiatric symptom reduction and QoL improvement, and 28.6% of children showed either psychiatric symptom reduction or QoL improvement. In 11.1% of all children,QoL improved, while the level of psychopathology remained high. Age, gender, or psychiatric diagnosis did not predict a poor outcome of persistently high psychopathology scores and poor QoL. Conclusion: QoL in children with psychiatric problems may be improved by reducing psychiatric symptoms in a number of children, but it is also possible to improve QoL without psychiatric symptom reduction. This implicates that QoL should become an important aim and treatment outcome measure of psychiatric treatment programs, especially since psychopathology tends to persist. © Steinkopff Verlag 2005

Language Policy, Politics and Ideology in Mewat: Comparative Case Studies of Mewati in Two School Types

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in multilingualism, language maintenance and managing language diversity both inside and outside the educational context. However, much of this work, especially in the educational context, has focused on (minority) languages and relatively little attention has been paid to ‘dialects’. This study explores the status and role of Mewati, a dialect generally subsumed under Hindi (Government of India, 2001) in schools. While Mewati is spoken by most Meos as their first language (Srivastava, 2011, p. 250), there are currently no studies that examine the use and role of Mewati in education in Mewat. This thesis addresses an important gap in understanding what roles are assigned (or not) to local dialects in education. This project was guided by two research questions: What language-in-education policies (LiEPs) were in place in the two types of schools (rural and urban) chosen for this study; and what role did Mewati play in the overall language policy framework in these schools. The goal of this project was to develop an understanding about how teachers comprehended, negotiated and implemented LiEPs within classrooms. It also aimed at uncovering and critically analysing the underlying ideologies, policies and political processes that informed and influenced these LiEPs in the two schools studied and how these policies, affected the position of Mewati in these schools. The schools studied differed across multiple dimensions including medium of instruction, board of affiliation, textbooks and curricula, location, infrastructure and the socio-economic background of the students. However, they were similar in that most students in both schools spoke Mewati as their home language. The case study was based on data collected in interviews, informal conversations, artifacts, documents and field notes. The data was gathered from both Meo and non-Meo teachers, who differed across linguistic, ethnic and religious lines, in order to obtain a richer and holistic perspective on teachers’ views and practices. This project took an interdisciplinary approach and drew insights from sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, education and sociology. The study draws significantly on Spolsky’s (2004) model of language policy which was used both as an analytical framework as well as a tool for organizing data. The study revealed that the LiEP of the rural schools was largely Hindi monolingual and the urban school mostly Hindi-English bilingual. Both types of schools failed to make space for Mewati, the mother tongue of the majority of students. In both school types, Hindi was taught as the first language. The majority of teachers also held negative attitudes towards Mewati. The teachers perceived Mewati as a hindrance for the learning and overall development of students. There was a significant communication gap between teachers and students particularly in the early years of education. There was also a severe shortage of local Meo teachers. Most teachers in both schools were non-Meos who could not speak Mewati. A complex mix of inter-ethnic relations between these groups and the socio-historical and political structures greatly influenced language choice patterns and policy decisions. This study has important implications for the role of mother tongue in education for policymakers, government officials, educationists, and teachers as the findings indicate a need for change in language policy and procedures