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World J Psychiatr. Nov 19, 2021; 11(11): 1039-1052
Published online Nov 19, 2021. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v11.i11.1039
Empirically supported psychological treatments: The challenges of comorbid psychiatric and behavioral disorders in people with intellectual disability
Laura E Gómez, Patricia Navas, Miguel Ángel Verdugo, Marc J Tassé
Laura E Gómez, Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo 33011, Asturias, Spain
Patricia Navas, Miguel Ángel Verdugo, Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatments, Institute on Community Integration, University of Salamanca, Salamanca 37005, Salamanca, Spain
Marc J Tassé, Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, The Ohio State University Nisonger Center-UCEDD, Columbus, OH 43210-1257, United States
Author contributions: Gómez LE wrote the draft; Navas P, Verdugo MÁ and Tassé MJ reviewed the draft and contributed equally to this work.
Supported by Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the State Research Agency, No. PID2019-105737RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Laura E Gómez, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Plaza Feijoo, s/n, Oviedo 33011, Asturias, Spain. gomezlaura@uniovi.es
Received: March 9, 2021
Peer-review started: March 9, 2021
First decision: July 15, 2021
Revised: July 17, 2021
Accepted: October 18, 2021
Article in press: October 18, 2021
Published online: November 19, 2021
Abstract

This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on psychological interventions with empirical evidence of efficacy in treating common psychiatric and behavioral disorders in people with intellectual disability (ID) at all stages of their life. We begin with a brief presentation of what is meant by psychiatric and behavioral disorders in this population, along with an explanation of some of the factors that contribute to the increased psychosocial vulnerability of this group to present with these problems. We then conduct a review of empirically supported psychological therapies used to treat psychiatric and behavioral disorders in people with ID. The review is structured around the three generations of therapies: Applied behavior analysis (e.g., positive behavior support), cognitive behavioral therapies (e.g., mindfulness-based cognitive therapy), and contextual therapies (e.g., dialectical behavior therapy). We conclude with some recommendations for professional practice in the fields of ID and psychiatry.

Keywords: Behavior disorder, Intellectual disability, Psychiatry, Applied behavior analysis, Cognitive behavioral therapies, Contextual therapies

Core Tip: Psychiatric and behavioral disorders are more common in people with intellectual disability (ID) than in the population without ID. Although there is some consensus that empirically supported psychological treatments for psychiatric disorders in the general population can be adapted for people with ID, there is scant published evidence about their application in this population. We discuss the empirical evidence for the application of psychological treatments in people with ID. Our review is structured around the first-, second- and third-generation therapies.