POPULATION PREVALENCE OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY .2. EPIDEMIOLOGIC FINDINGS

This paper reports findings from an epidemiologically derived populati on in a multicentre study in NSW, Australia. The design of this study is described in the accompanying paper. Those with mild intellectual d isability (ID) were likely to have been underascertained, but identifi cation and participation rates for those with more severe ID were high . The study found that in the regions surveyed 40.7% of those with ID and aged between 4 and 18 could be classified as having severe emotion al and behaviour disorder or as being psychiatrically disordered. The profoundly intellectually handicapped had lower levels of disturbance overall compared with those with mild, moderate and severe ID. The lev el of ID affected scores on a number of behavioural dimensions, with d isruptive and antisocial behaviours more prominent in the mild ID grou p, and 'self-absorbed' and 'autistic' behaviours more prominent in tho se with severe ID. Age and sex did not affect prevalence, a finding th at is in contrast to that found in general child psychopathology. The study found that fewer than 10% of children with intellectual disabili ty and major psychiatric disorder had received specialist assistance.