title: Behavioural and emotional problems in people with severe and profound intellectual disability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  People with severe and profound levels of intellectual disability (ID) are frequently examined as a single group in research. However, these two groups may be significantly different, particularly in the area of emotional and behavioural difficulties.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC) was completed by parents and caregivers of 107 people with severe ID and 22 people with profound ID at four time periods across 12 years. Regression analyses were used to examine trends in sub-scale scores across time and groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant differences between the groups of people with severe and profound ID were found. People with profound ID had significantly lower scores across all sub-scales except Social Relating. This was usually related to fewer items being selected as present for people with profound ID, as opposed to the scores being attributable to lower item severity scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are significant differences between groups of people with severe and profound ID in scores on the DBC, indicating differences in behavioural and emotional problems. Caution should be exercised by researchers treating these two disparate groups as a single group, and by practitioners translating such findings into practice.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. sheridan.forster@monash.edu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Taffe
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Einfeld
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Tonge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000145:classification* / Q000150:complications / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D019989:Persons with Intellectual Disabilities / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult