Assessing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults with Mild Intellectual Disabilities or Borderline Intellectual Functioning

Mevissen, L., Didden, R., de Jongh, Ad and Korzilius, H. (2020) Assessing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults with Mild Intellectual Disabilities or Borderline Intellectual Functioning. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 13 (2). pp. 110-126. ISSN 1931-5864 (print) 1931-5872 (eISSN)

Abstract

Introduction: Persons with mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning (MID-BIF, IQ 50–85) are at high risk for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A diagnostic instrument to establish a valid and reliable DSM-5 PTSD diagnosis in adults with MID-BIF was lacking. Aim of the current study was to determine the reliability and validity of the Adapted ADIS-C PTSD-adults for the assessment of PTSD according to DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 in adults with MID-BIF Method: 106 adults (18– 72 years old) with MID-BIF were interviewed using the Adapted ADIS-C PTSD-adults Results: Agreement between raters appeared to be good (mean Cohen’s kappa for traumatic event scores 0.84, fulfillment of PTSD A-criterion 0.50, and PTSD symptom scores 0.90). Content validity was supported by a significant positive association with scores on the IES-IDs, a DSM-IV PTSD screening instrument (DSM-IV: r = .58; DSM-5: r = .43; ps <.001). Convergent validity appeared to be good considering positive correlations between rates of PTSD symptoms and scores on the ADESS, measuring symptoms of anxiety and stress, depression, and social avoidance (DSM-IV: r = .47; DSM-5: r = .49; ps <.001) Conclusion: The Adapted ADIS-C PTSD-adults is suitable for assessing DSM-5 PTSD in adults with MID-BIF, an important step to gain access to trauma-focused interventions that have shown to be applicable and potentially effective for this high-risk target group.

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