Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Development of a Virtual Reality Assessment of Everyday Living Skills
Published on: April 23, 2014
Mental health disorders among individuals with mental retardation: challenges to accurate prevalence estimates
Bonnie D Kerker1, Pamela L Owens, Edward Zigler
1Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. bkerker@health.nyc.gov
Objectives:
The objectives of this literature review were to assess current challenges to estimating the prevalence of mental health disorders among individuals with mental retardation (MR) and to develop recommendations to improve such estimates for this population.
Methods:
The authors identified 200 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, government documents, or reports from national and international organizations on the mental health status of people with MR. Based on the study's inclusion criteria, 52 articles were included in the review.
Results:
Available data reveal inconsistent estimates of the prevalence of mental health disorders among those with MR, but suggest that some mental health conditions are more common among these individuals than in the general population. Two main challenges to identifying accurate prevalence estimates were found: (1) health care providers have difficulty diagnosing mental health conditions among individuals with MR; and (2) methodological limitations of previous research inhibit confidence in study results.
Conclusions:
Accurate prevalence estimates are necessary to ensure the availability of appropriate treatment services. To this end, health care providers should receive more training regarding the mental health treatment of individuals with MR. Further, government officials should discuss mechanisms of collecting nationally representative data, and the research community should utilize consistent methods with representative samples when studying mental health conditions in this population.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Introduction to Psychological Disorders
Deviant Behavior
Deviance in behavior refers to actions or thought patterns that significantly diverge from societal norms or...
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Depressive Disorders: MDD and Dysthymia
Schizophrenia
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings.
Intellectual Disability

