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PubMed2006

A cross-sectional test of the similar-trajectory hypothesis among adults with mental retardation.

The similar-sequence and the similar-structure hypotheses are the two mainstays of the developmental approach to mental retardation. In the present study, a third way, the similar-trajectory hypothesis, is described and illustrated using the WAIS-R results of adults with and without mental retardation aged from 20 to 54 years. The whole sample (N=633) comprised 306 participants with mental retardation and 327 without mental retardation. Hierarchical regression analyses comparing the two groups showed similar evolutions of scores with increasing age for verbal and performance scales. These results seem to validate the similar-trajectory hypothesis, at least for the present samples and for the aspects of cognitive development considered here. Some weaknesses and implications of the study are considered in the discussion.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Enhancing free-recall rates of individuals with mental retardation.

Generative encoding contexts promote activation of multiple retrieval routes and have been shown to enhance free-recall rates of individuals without mental retardation. The present extension to individuals with mental retardation involved a comparison of two encoding conditions: (a) fade-in, initially presenting pictures out of focus then slowly fading them into focus, and (b) fade-out, presenting pictures clearly then slowly blurring them. Results indicated that free-recall rates were greater for the fade-in items for the individuals with mental retardation and CA-matched comparisons, but not for the MA-matched group. These findings demonstrate the utility of a generative encoding context that does not involve verbal instruction for individuals with and without mental retardation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Training psychiatric residents in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in mentally retarded persons.

A serious shortage of psychiatrists trained to care for mentally retarded patients exists. Based on a successful program that has been in place for more than a decade, the authors offer guidelines for training psychiatric residents in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in mentally retarded persons. They describe a model curriculum and suggest ways to modify existing four-year curricula. Special diagnostic skills for working with this population, such as posing questions in concrete terms and ruling out the effects of disabilities like seizure disorders, are reviewed. Important treatment issues include knowing the side effects of neuroleptics and understanding the stages through which families and other caregivers pass in accepting a person's mental retardation.

Comorbidity↗
PubMed1989

Mentally retarded adolescent sex offenders. A survey and pilot study.

There is not a great deal of empirical research on adolescent sex offenders and even less on mentally retarded adolescent sex offenders. This study provides some preliminary data in this area. Results of a survey of the extent and types of sexual problems evident amongst groups of mentally retarded and intellectually normal adolescents (N = 196), seen at an assessment and treatment centre in southwestern Ontario during a 14 month period is presented. In addition three groups of ten adolescents each (mentally retarded and intellectually normal sex offenders and one group of mentally retarded non-offenders with behavioural problems) were investigated to gain a more indepth perspective of characteristics of these adolescents and their backgrounds. Considering the high recidivism rate for these groups, indications for treatment are discussed with special consideration for the mentally retarded offenders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Binding ties: the roles of adult siblings of persons with mental retardation.

Current relationship patterns and future role expectations of 140 adult siblings of a brother or sister with mental retardation still living in the parental home were examined. Results showed that siblings maintained regular and personal contact, provided emotional support, and felt knowledgeable about the varied needs of their brother or sister with mental retardation. Of the siblings who had firm plans for the future, 36% intended to co-reside with their brother or sister with mental retardation, whereas 64% intended to live apart. Factors differentiating groups included gender (of both the sibling and the brother or sister with retardation), mother's health, level of mental retardation, and frequency of activities shared by the siblings during the past year.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Uniparental and functional X disomy in Turner syndrome patients with unexplained mental retardation and X derived marker chromosomes.

We analysed parental origin and X inactivation status of X derived marker (mar(X)) or ring X (r(X)) chromosomes in six Turner syndrome patients. Two of these patients had mental retardation of unknown cause in addition to the usual Turner syndrome phenotype. By FISH analysis, the mar(X)/r(X) chromosomes of all patients retained the X centromere and the XIST locus at Xq13.2. By polymorphic marker analysis, both patients with mental retardation were shown to have uniparental X disomy while the others had both a maternal and paternal contribution of X chromosomes. By RT-PCR analysis and the androgen receptor assay, it was shown that in one of these mentally retarded patients, the XIST on the mar(X) was not transcribed and consequently the mar(X) was not inactivated, leading to functional disomy X. In the other patient, the XIST was transcribed but the r(X) appeared to be active by the androgen receptor assay. Our results suggest that uniparental disomy X may not be uncommon in mentally retarded patients with Turner syndrome. Functional disomy X seems to be the cause of mental retardation in these patients, although the underlying molecular basis could be diverse. In addition, even without unusual dysmorphic features, Turner syndrome patients with unexplained mental retardation need to be investigated for possible mosaicism including these mar(X)/r(X) chromosomes.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Low frequency of MECP2 mutations in mentally retarded males.

A high frequency of mutations in the methyl CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene has recently been reported in males with nonspecific X-linked mental retardation. The results of this previous study suggested that the frequency of MECP2 mutations in the mentally retarded population was comparable to that of CGG expansions in FMR1. In view of these data, we performed MECP2 mutation analysis in a cohort of 475 mentally retarded males who were negative for FMR1 CGG repeat expansion. Five novel changes, detected in seven patients, were predicted to change the MECP2 coding sequence. Except for one, these changes were not found in a control population. While this result appeared to suggest a high mutation rate, this conclusion was not supported by segregation studies. Indeed, three of the five changes could be traced in unaffected male family members. For another change, segregation analysis in the family was not possible. Only one mutation, a frameshift created by a deletion of two bases, was found to be de novo. This study clearly shows the importance of segregation analysis for low frequency mutations, in order to distinguish them from rare polymorphisms. The true frequency of MECP2 mutations in the mentally retarded has probably been overestimated. Based on our data, the frequency of MECP2 mutations in mentally retarded males is 0.2% (1/475).

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Improving health care communication for persons with mental retardation.

There has been little effort directed at training health care professionals in behaviors and attitudes that are effective in communicating with persons with mental retardation. Such training would be beneficial not only to assist those with congenital cognitive deficits but for those with acquired central nervous system conditions as well, for example, dementia. Persons with mental retardation are living in community settings in greater numbers and increasingly participating in vocational, residential, and health care programs. Yet, most health care professionals are not routinely offered an opportunity to gain experience interacting with people who have limited ability to express and understand health care information. An education program was focused on health care professionals' use of basic communication skills when providing health information to an adult who is mentally retarded. A self-study instructional text and a 20-minute companion video provided methods of communicating with a patient with mental retardation in medical and dental care settings. Resident physicians, medical students, nurses, and nursing assistants improved their communication skills, knew more about mental retardation, and were more proactive in health care interviews following training. Health care training needs to incorporate educational opportunities focusing on skills to assist special populations. Brief, structured, and interactive skill training in communication offered early in the health care professional's career has positive benefits for the recipient and the provider.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Comparison groups in research on families with mentally retarded members: a methodological and conceptual review.

A review and critique of the use of comparison groups in mental retardation family research was provided. Issues addressed include matching on age versus competency of the mentally retarded family member, description of comparison groups in published research, demographic equivalence of groups, matching strategies, populations from which samples were drawn, appropriateness of tasks/instruments across groups, and the role of theory in comparison group selection. Unique concerns relating to sibling research and studies of mentally retarded parents were discussed. Caution was expressed concerning the translation of comparison research findings into intervention targets for families with mentally retarded members. Alternatives to comparison group designs were presented as well as recommendations for selecting and describing comparison samples.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[How do we deal with the mentally retarded in nursing homes?].

The author casts a retrospective glance on move recent results of research, which shook unbalanced structure of the construction of "mental retardation". He discusses some problems of rehabilitation of mentally retarded people in nursing homes (several years of hospitalisation, different degrees of impairment, scarce contacts to networks outside nursing homes). He comprises the pros and cons of popular ideology of rehabilitation and goes into details of social support of mentally retarded people. The author recapitulates, that work with mentally retarded people finds itself in an unbalanced situation between obstructive (complex care with conventional methods) and advanced forces (as to the rehabilitation of the education of patients).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Suicidality in a clinical and community sample of adults with mental retardation.

This paper will argue that suicidal ideation and suicidal gestures are evident in adults with mental retardation, including individuals not receiving mental health services currently, and that psychosocial correlates of suicidality are similar to those noted in the general population. Findings are based on structured interviews with 98 adults with mental retardation, with corroborative information from caregivers and clinical charts. One in three individuals reported that they think "life is not worth living" sometimes or a lot. Eleven percent of individuals reported previous suicide attempt(s). Twenty-three percent of informants were unaware of the current suicidal ideation that their family member/client was reporting. Individuals reporting suicidal ideation endorsed more loneliness, stress, anxiety and depression, along with less social support than other individuals, consistent with reports of suicidal individuals in the general population. Adults with mental retardation who report thinking that life is not worth living should be a target group for future suicide prevention efforts. More research is needed to better understand the risk factors and protective factors for suicidality in this population.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

External and verbal strategies in children with and without mild mental retardation.

External memory strategies (e.g., moving objects) were investigated in 11- and 17-year-old children with mild mental retardation and 7-, 9-, 11- and 17-year-old children without mental retardation (N = 95). In an external memory task, after hearing from 1 to 7 sentences, subjects placed objects in specified spatial locations. In the verbal memory task, subjects recalled sentences orally. Target-oriented strategies increased with the number of sentences and were positively related to accuracy. There was no difference between children with mental retardation and their age peers in object-oriented strategies. For all groups, external strategies were used more frequently than verbal strategies. These results show that children with mental retardation have more strategy competencies than reported in studies of covert verbally based strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Reliability of psychiatric and psychological diagnoses of mental retardation severity: judgments under naturally occurring conditions.

The reliability of diagnoses of mental retardation severity was examined through the comparison of psychiatric and psychological case reports found in client records. For a sample of 126 dually diagnosed clients, overall chance-corrected agreement was .47, ranging from .38 (for diagnoses of moderate mental retardation) to .55 (for diagnoses of borderline mental retardation). Results showed that the analysis of naturally occurring variation in diagnostic practices (including variability in professional judgment and assessment methods) may offer a more realistic appraisal of the reliability of diagnostic decisions in professional practice situations than do studies in which important sources of diagnostic error are controlled.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Chromosomal aberrations in the mildly mentally retarded.

Chromosome analyses were performed on 52 mildly mentally retarded adults and a control group representing the non-retarded population. Chromosomal aberrations were found in 19.2% of the mentally retarded and in 1.9% of the controls. The aberrations in the retarded group consisted of trisomy 21, fragile-X, sex-chromosome aberrations and balanced translocations. The index group included a man with a fragile site Xp22.1. The aberration in the control group consisted of a karyotype with an extra marker chromosome.

Chromosome Deletion↗
PubMed2002

Early recognition of 1-year-old infants with autism spectrum disorder versus mental retardation.

Previous work based on observations of home videotapes indicates that differences can be detected between infants with autism spectrum disorder and infants with typical development at 1 year of age. The present study addresses the question of whether autism can be distinguished from mental retardation by 1 year of age. Home videotapes of first birthday parties from 20 infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, 14 infants later diagnosed with mental retardation (without autism), and 20 typically developing infants were coded by blind raters with respect to the frequencies of specific social and communicative behaviors and repetitive motor actions. Results indicated that 1-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder can be distinguished from 1-year-olds with typical development and those with mental retardation. The infants with autism spectrum disorder looked at others and oriented to their names less frequently than infants with mental retardation. The infants with autism spectrum disorder and those with mental retardation used gestures and looked to objects held by others less frequently and engaged in repetitive motor actions more frequently than typically developing infants. These results indicate that autism can be distinguished from mental retardation and typical development by 1 year of age.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1992

[Treatment of mentally retarded in psychiatry].

The reform decentralizing the special care of the mentally retarded in Norway has caused concern within the Norwegian psychiatric community. The frequency of psychiatric disturbances and behaviour problems in this population is known to be high, and closing down special institutions may eventually direct more mentally retarded persons to psychiatric hospitals. Behaviour problems like poor communication skills, lack of social skills and self-care, and disruptive behaviours seem to cause more concern than the actual diagnosis. However, the same behaviour problems are found in psychiatric hospital populations, for instance among chronic schizophrenics. From a behaviour modification point of view these behaviours can be treated regardless of diagnosis. The article describes how a psychiatric hospital unit can apply behaviour modification resulting in a better life for an otherwise untreatable patient. It is recommended that behaviour modification techniques should be used concurrently with other methods of treatment used in psychiatry. As well as being potentially helpful to psychiatric patients, behaviour modification techniques will make psychiatry better equipped to treat mentally retarded people in need of psychiatric care.

Hospital Restructuring↗
PubMed1993

Incidence of excessive/impacted cerumen in individuals with mental retardation: a longitudinal investigation.

A major sequelae of impacted cerumen (earwax) is conductive hearing loss, which can be deleterious to linguistic, social, and intellectual development, particularly for individuals with mental retardation. The longitudinal incidence (12-year period) of excessive/impacted cerumen and related conductive hearing loss of 117 adults with mental retardation was examined. Results indicated a considerably higher incidence of excessive cerumen and cerumen impaction with associated conductive hearing loss in adults with mental retardation (28%) than in the general adult population (2% to 6%). Moreover, a strong propensity for recurrent cerumen impaction in the mentally retarded population was found. These findings were discussed in view of the management of cerumen impaction among individuals with mental retardation.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Speech and prosody characteristics of adults with mental retardation.

Audio-recorded continuous speech samples from forty 20-50-year-old noninstitutionalized persons with mental retardation were selected from a database of 192 samples. Descriptive data on segmental and suprasegmental characteristics were obtained using close phonetic transcription as input to linguistic analyses software. For this sample of adults with mental retardation, speech and prosody status were not statistically associated with gender or gross level of mental retardation, but were associated with estimated probability of independent living. Speech and prosody analyses and content analyses of transcribers' comments yielded diacritic-level profiles of these speakers' linguistic and paralinguistic behaviors in continuous speech. Additional analyses of the error data tested alternative sources of processing involvement within a four-stage speech production model. A cognitive capacity constraint, which limits the speaker's ability to allocate resources to phonological encoding, is proposed as a sufficient explanation for the obtained pattern of token-to-token inconsistency of articulation. An additional sociolinguistic constraint is hypothesized to account for reduced prosodic and paralinguistic competence in continuous discourse. Both constraints are amenable to intervention programming. Findings fail to support the view that the potential for long-term speech prosody competence in individuals with mental retardation is limited by speech-motor constraints. Discussion includes intervention considerations in the context of current trends in special education.

Activities of Daily Living↗