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Abstract
A large, nationally representative sample from a preexisting dataset, the National Core Indicators, was used to examine the impact of stress and social support on the mental health of adults with intellectual disability (ID). Stress was significantly correlated with both mental illness and severity of behavior problems, with each additional stressor increasing the odds of poor mental health by 20%. This relationship held, even after controlling for level of ID, gender, and place of residence. Lack of social support was associated with having a mental illness; individuals who lacked social support were twice as likely to have a mental illness. The importance of considering these factors in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health in this population is discussed.
Key Words: Mental health; stress; social support; adults with intellectual disability
Background
Stressful life events have been linked to a number of mental disorders in the general population, such as depression (Kessler, 1997), psychosis (Bebbington, Bowen, & Ramana, 1997), and substance abuse (Kilpatrick, Acierno, Resnick, Saunders, & Best, 1997), as well as physical health issues (Craig & Brown, 1984; Niaura, & Goldstein, 1992). At one time, it was widely assumed that people with intellectual disability (ID) could not experience mental illness because they lacked the intellectual capacity (Potter, 1965). Similarly, people with ID were assumed to lack the capacity to feel or be adversely affected by stress. Recent research has disproved both these assumptions. In fact, individuals with ID may be at a greater risk for experiencing stress than their counterparts without a disability (Hatton & Emerson, 2004) and likely have fewer resources available to help cope with that stress (Lunsky & Benson, 2001). Some research has suggested that people with ID report levels of stress similar to that of people with other types of disabilities and to the general population of people without disabilities ( Bramston, Fogarty, & Cummins, 1999; Bramston & Mioche, 2001). Other research, such as a study by Hartley & MacLean (2009), found that compared to a matched sample of adults from the general population, 47 depressed adults with ID at the upper end of the spectrum had frequent stressful social interactions, experienced more stress, and used fewer active coping skills. People with ID may experience less control over...