Family intervention and acquisition of adaptive behaviour among intellectually disabled children

Abstract

A trial was designed to evaluate the role of enhanced parental attitude towards management of intellectual disability in the acquisition of adaptive behaviour. Fifty-seven children with intellectual disability and their parents were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of either multimodal adaptive behaviour training plus interactive group psycho-education (intervention group); or multimodal adaptive behaviour training plus didactic lectures (control group). Blinded raters were involved. Completers’ and intention-to-treat analyses were conducted. In the intention-to-treat sample, 22 of 29 children in the intervention group compared with four of 28 children in the control group showed a significant improvement in the acquisition of adaptive behaviour. The minimum additive efficacy provided by the enhanced parental attitude was 80 percent. Meaningful clinical benefits on various measures were found for the intervention group after training. Parental attitude intervention should be included in adaptive behaviour training for children with intellectual disability, as enhanced parental attitude has short-term positive effects.

Keywords

adaptive behaviour family intellectual disability

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

BECKETT-EDWARDS, J. (1994) ‘Caregivers’ Expectations of Future Learning of Dependents with a Developmental Disability’ , Journal of Pediatric Nursing 9 (1): 27–32 .

BHATTI, R. S. , CHANABASAVANNA, S. M. & PRABHU, L. R. (1985) ‘A Tool to Study the Attitude of Parents towards the Management of Mentally Retarded Children’ , Child Psychiatry Quarterly 18 (1): 1–8 .

BURKE, J. P. (1996) ‘Moving Occupation into Treatment: Clinical Interpretation of “Legitimizing Occupational Therapy’s Knowledge” ’ , American Journal of Occupational Therapy 50 (8): 635–638 .

DOLL, E. A. (1965) Vineland Social Maturity Scale:Condensed Manual of Directions. Minnesota: American Guidance Service, Inc.

DUMAS, J. E. & LAFRENIERE, P. J. (1993) ‘Mother–Child Relationships as Sources of Support or Stress: A Comparison of Competent, Average, Aggressive, and Anxious Dyads’ , Child Development 64 (6): 296–318 .

FRANK, G. (1994) ‘The Personal Meaning of Selfcare Occupations’, in C. CHRISTIANSEN (ed.) Ways of Living:Self-Care Strategies for Special Needs, pp. 27–50. Rockville, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association .

GESELL, A. (1940) The First Five Years of Life:The Preschool Years. New York: Harper .

GUNZBERG, H. C. (1977) PAC Manual 24-24, 5th edn. Birmingham: SEFA .

GURALNICK, M. J. (1990) ‘Social Competence and Early Intervention’ , Journal of Early intervention 14 (1): 3–14 .

10.

GURALNICK, M. J. (1997) ‘Second Generation Research in the Field of Early Intervention’, in M. J. GURALNICK (ed.) The Effectiveness of Early Intervention, pp. 3–20. Baltimore, MD: Brooks .

11.

GURALNICK, M. J. , CONNOR, R. T. & HAMMOND, M. (1995) ‘Parent Perspectives of Peer Relationship and Friendship in Integrated and Specialized Programs’ , American Journal on Mental Retardation 99 (5): 457–476 .

12.

HARING, T. G. (1991) ‘Social Relationships’, in L. H. MEYER , C. A. PECK & L. BROWN (eds) Critical Issues in the Lives of People with Severe Disabilities, pp. 195–217. Baltimore, MD: Brooks .

13.

HART, B. & RISLEY, T. R. (1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore, MD: Brooks .

14.

HELLER, T. , MILLER, A. B. & FACTOR A. (1999) ‘Autonomy in Residential Facilities and Community Functioning of Adults with Mental Retardation’ , Mental Retardation 37 (6): 449–457 .

15.

HELLER, T. , MILLER, A. B. & HSIEH, K. (2002) ‘Eight-Year Follow-Up of the Impact of Environmental Characteristics on Well-Being of Adults with Developmental Disabilities’ , Mental Retardation 40 (5): 366–378 .

16.

HUANG, W. & CUVO, A. J. (1997) ‘Social Skills Training for Adults with Mental Retardation in Job-Related Settings’ , Behaviour Modification 21 (1): 3–44 .

17.

JOHNSON-MARTIN, N. M. , JENS, G. K. , ATTERMEIER, S. M. & HACKER, B. J. (1991) The Carolina Curriculum for Infant and Toddlers with Special Needs, 2nd edn. Baltimore, MD: Brookes .

18.

KAMAT, V. V. (1967) Measuring Intelligence of Indian Children. Bombay: Oxford University Press .

19.

KELLEGREW, D. H. (1998) ‘Creating Opportunities for Occupation: An Intervention to Promote Self-Care Independence of Young Children with Special Needs’ , American Journal of Occupational Therapy 52 (6): 457–465 .

20.

KENNEDY, C. H. & ITKONEN, T. (1994) ‘Some Effects of Regular Class Participation on the Social Contacts and Social Networks of High School Students with Severe Disabilities’ , Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps 19 (1): 1–10 .

21.

MARGALIT, M. (1998) ‘Loneliness and Coherence among Preschool Children with Learning Disabilities’ , Journal of Learning Disabilities 31 (2): 173–180 .

22.

MCCONACHIE, H. R. (1991) ‘What Parents Think about Parenting and Teaching’ , Journal of Mental Deficiency Research 35 (2): 58–65 .

23.

MICHIE, A. M. , LINDSAY, W. P. , SMITH, A. H. & TODMAN, J. (1998) ‘Changes Following Community Living Skills Training: A Controlled Study’ , British Journal of Clinical Psychology 37 (Part 1): 109–111 .

24.

MORTWEET, S. L. , UTLEY, C. A. , WALKER, D. , DAWSON, H. L. , DELQUADRI, J. C. , REDDY, S. S. , GREENWOOD, C. R. , HAMILTON, S. & LEDFORD, D. (1999) ‘Classwide Peer Tutoring: Teaching Students with Mild Mental Retardation in Inclusive Class Rooms’ , Exceptional Child 65 (6): 524–536 .

25.

RUSSELL, P. S. S. , JOHN, J. K. & JEYASEELAN, L. (1999) ‘Family Intervention for Intellectually Disabled Children: Randomised Controlled Study’ , British Journal of Psychiatry 174 (3): 254–258 .

26.

RUTLAND, A. F. & CAMPBELL, R. N. (1996) ‘The Relevance of Vygotsky’s Theory of the “Zone of Proximal Development” to the Assessment of Children with Intellectual Disabilities’ , Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 40 (Part 2): 151–158 .

27.

SAMEROFF, A. J. & FIESE, B. (1990) ‘Transactional Regulation and Early Intervention’, in S. J. MEISELS & J. P. SHONKOFF (eds) Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention, pp. 119–149. New York: Cambridge University Press .

28.

SIPERSTEIN, G. N. & LEFFERT, J. S. (1997) ‘A Comparison of Socially Accepted and Rejected Children with Mental Retardation’ , American Journal on Mental Retardation 101 (4): 339–351 .

29.

STANCLIFFE, R. J. , HAYDEN, M. F. , LARSON, S. A. & LAKIN, K. C. (2002) ‘Longitudinal Study on the Adaptive and Challenging Behaviors of Deinstitutionalized Adults with Mental Retardation’ , American Journal on Mental Retardation 107 (4): 302–320 .

30.

US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (1998) Twentieth Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act. Washington, DC: US DoE .