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Background: Recent COVID-19 lockdown restrictions resulted in reduced access to educational, professional and social support systems for children with intellectual disabilities and their carers., Aim: The aim of this study was to gain insight into the ways mothers of children with intellectual disabilities coped during the first 2020 lockdown period., Methods: Eight mothers of children with intellectual disabilities were interviewed. The recordings of these interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis., Results: Three main themes were identified: carrying the burden; a time of stress; and embracing change and looking to the future., Conclusions: All mothers experienced increased burden and stress. However, some also described some positive impact of lockdown conditions on them as well as on their child's well-being and behaviour. These findings are discussed in the light of the (Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33, 2020, 1523) survey results on parental coping and suggestions for future service provision during pandemic conditions are proposed., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: The measures implemented to manage the COVID-19 pandemic have been shown to impair mental health. This problem is likely to be exacerbated for carers., Method: Informal carers (mainly parents) of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and a comparison group of parents of children without disabilities, completed an online questionnaire. Almost all the data were collected while strict lockdown conditions were in place., Results: Relative to carers of children without intellectual disability, carers of both children and adults with intellectual disability had significantly greater levels of a wish fulfilment coping style, defeat/entrapment, anxiety, and depression. Differences were 2-3 times greater than reported in earlier pre-pandemic studies. Positive correlations were found between objective stress scores and all mental health outcomes. Despite their greater mental health needs, carers of those with intellectual disability received less social support from a variety of sources., Conclusions: The greater mental health needs of carers in the context of lesser social support raises serious concerns. We consider the policy implications of these findings., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is recommended for post-traumatic stress disorder and emerging evidence indicates that it is effective for people with intellectual disabilities. However, acceptability from the perspectives of clients with intellectual disabilities, their therapists and other key people has not been formally evaluated. This study investigates process issues in the implementation of EMDR from perspectives of multiple stakeholders., Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two adults with intellectual disabilities and three clinical psychologists who had participated in EMDR as well as a key supporter (N = 6) to provide information relating to three cases. The interviews were analysed thematically either directly from the audio recording or from transcripts., Results: Five themes were identified: EMDR feels very different; EMDR is a technical process; the need to work with the present; talking is important; cautious optimism., Conclusions: Whilst a range of client- and therapist-related factors served as barriers to using EMDR in this small-scale study, such as preferences in working with the present and inexperienced therapists, there was cautious optimism that EMDR may be useful for "the right person at the right time."., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: With increasing numbers of people with an intellectual disability choosing to become parents, the right support is imperative for effective parenting (Macintyre & Stewart ). The aim of this study was to gain insight into the experiences of parents who received support from Doulas during pregnancy, birth and following the birth of their child. In addition, the experiences of the Doulas who provided the support were investigated., Materials and Methods: Four women with an intellectual disability who received Doula support were interviewed before and after the birth of their child. Three Doulas were interviewed after the birth about their experiences of supporting women with an intellectual disability., Results: Interview transcripts were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Themes were identified from each interview, before an overall analysis of themes from each support phase was undertaken., Conclusions: Pre-natally, the Doula was considered helpful and a reliable source of information about pregnancy. Each mother perceived Doula support as a means of keeping her child in her care. Post-natally, mothers described a trusting relationship with their Doula, who enabled them to make informed choices. Doulas described how they adapted their work to meet the needs of parents with intellectual disability. Being involved in Child Protection procedures was perceived as stressful and challenging., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The role of support workers and other professionals in the psychotherapeutic process has been commented upon but not as yet been systematically investigated., Method: To explore their views and expectations of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for adults with intellectual disabilities, eleven paid support workers and professionals were recruited and interviewed before the CBT sessions commenced for their service users and nine took part in the second interview that took place after nine sessions., Results: Thematic Analysis of the interview transcripts indicates that staff members do not perceive CBT as a long-term solution for psychological problems have little knowledge of CBT and do not feel included in the process. Nevertheless, after nine sessions, most participants reported improved psychological well-being for their service users and expressed a wish for longer-term involvement of the therapist., Conclusions: The results suggest that for CBT to be effective in the longer term, the therapist is required to consider a wider systemic approach including staff training and supervision, staff and management consultancy and creating a delicate balance between confidentiality and sharing the psychological formulation with 'significant others' to ensure maintenance and generalisation of improved psychological well-being., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Many people with intellectual disabilities display high levels of anger, and cognitive-behavioural anger management interventions are used routinely. However, for these methods to be used optimally, a better understanding is needed of different forms of anger assessment. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of a range of measures to self- and carer reports of anger expression, including instruments used to assess mental health and challenging behaviour., Method: Adults with intellectual disabilities, who had been identified as having problems with anger control, their key-workers and home carers all rated the service users' trait anger, using parallel versions of the same instrument (the Provocation Inventory). In addition, service users completed a battery of mental health assessments (the Glasgow Depression Scale, Glasgow Anxiety Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), and both groups of carers completed a battery of challenging behaviour measures (the Hyperactivity and Irritability domains of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the Modified Overt Anger Scale)., Results: Participants had high levels of mental health problems (depression: 34%; anxiety: 73%) and severe challenging behaviour (26%). Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to explore the extent to which anger ratings by the three groups of respondents were predicted by demographic factors, mental health measures and challenging behaviour measures. Older service users rated themselves as less angry and were also rated as less angry by home carers, but not by key-workers. More intellectually able service users were rated as more angry by both sets of carers, but not by the service users themselves. Significantly, mental health status (but not challenging behaviour) predicted service users' self-ratings of anger, whereas challenging behaviour (but not mental health status) predicted carers' ratings of service users' anger., Conclusions: Service users and their carers appear to use different information when rating the service users' anger. Service users' self-ratings reflect their internal emotional state and mental health, as reflected by their ratings of anxiety and depression, whereas staff rate service users' anger on the basis of overt behaviours, as measured by challenging behaviour scales., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)