Intellectual disability and psychopathology: influence of institutionalization and level of intellectual disability and relationship between psychopathological problems and social and functional abilities.

Abstract: Research has been paying increasing attention to the psychopathological problems and psychiatric disorders in intellectual disability (ID). Psychiatric problems are most often observed in individuals with mild to moderate ID and self destructive and autistic- type behaviors are more frequent in individuals with severe ID. Moreover, persons living in institutions show a greater degree of aggressiveness, as well as destructive and self-destructive behaviors. To test the psychopathological problems of individuals with different levels of ID, either institutionalized or living with their family, we asked the health and social care workers responsible for the daily care of our participants to evaluate their psychopathological problems. Secondly, to check whether the dual diagnosis was a clear indicator of psychiatric suffering, we made a comparison between the evaluations of psychopathological problems of a sub- group with dual diagnosis, the evaluations of a sub-group without dual diagnosis, and those of a group of psychiatric patients. Lastly, the daily functioning abilities and social abilities of a further subgroup were evaluated, and the predictive ability of these characteristics with regard to psychopathological problems was verified. The results suggest that emotional problems were more pronounced in mild ID, behavior problems were more evident in severe ID, and individuals living in institutions had more psychopathological problems than other subjects. Secondly, the participants with dual diagnosis suffered from psychopathological problems quite similar to those characterizing participants with psychiatric problems, without, however, a complete overlap of problem type. Lastly, both social abilities and abilities associated with managing daily life were related to psychopathological problems.