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Bereavement and grief in adults with learning disabilities. A follow-up study
E Bonell-Pascual1, S Huline-Dickens, S Hollins
1Department of Psychiatry of Disability, St George's Hospital Medical School, London.
Background:
This paper reports on the follow-up of a cohort of parentally bereaved adults with learning disabilities.
Aims:
To investigate whether significant psychopathology, present up to 2.1 years after the death, had resolved five years later.
Method:
Of an original sample of 50 adults with learning disabilities, 41 were reassessed. The Aberrant Behaviour Checklist and the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults were re-administered to carers.
Results:
At follow-up, there was a small increase in the measures of aberrant behaviour. Measures of psychopathology showed improvement, and in particular there was a reduction in anxiety.
Conclusions:
The response to bereavement by adults with learning disabilities is similar in type, though not in expression, to that of the general population. Learning disability is a significant predictor of mental health problems following bereavement. Participants adapted more easily when basic emotional needs had been constructively met by carers.