Mental Health Problems in Youths with Intellectual Disability: Need for help and help-seeking

In this thesis, the results are presented of a follow-up study on psychopathology in children with intellectual disabilities (ID) that started in 1996. That study, but also other studies showed that children and adolescents (i.e., youths) with moderate to borderline ID have a three to four fold increased risk for developing emotional and/or behavioural problems, or a psychiatric disorder (psychopathology). In addition, the sparsely available longitudinal studies showed that psychopathology in these youths with ID is quite persistent. Moreover, whilst the ID in itself is a serious handicap, when psychopathology is also present, this has even more critical consequences, not only for the youths themselves, but also for their parents and family. Professional help from mental health care services for these youths and their parents and family, therefore, seems imperative. However, only a minority of these youths receives mental health care. Several reasons might explain why these youths (and their parents and family) do not receive professional help. The main aim of this study was to explore the discrepancies between need for help and obtained help, and the role of the parents in this discrepancy, as they are often the ones that have to initiate the help-seeking process. More specifically, the key objectives of this study were to: 1. determine the objective and subjective need for mental health services, 2. identify determinants of objective and subjective need for help and help-seeking for mental health problems, 3. predict objective and subjective need from earlier adjustment, and 4. identify discrepancies between need for help and help obtained, and identify determinants of these discrepancies.

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