Psychological services utilization: relationship to severity of behaviour problems in intellectual disability...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Intellectual Disability Services
• Behavioral Health Care

Background:

• Intellectual disability services in the USA are increasingly integrated into managed health and behavioral health care systems.
• Understanding the utilization of psychological services is crucial for effective resource allocation and care planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the relationship between the frequency of contact with psychology specialists and the severity of behavior problems in adults with intellectual disability.
• To identify patterns of psychology service utilization among individuals with varying levels of behavioral challenges.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Developmental Disabilities Profile, a population service registry, for data analysis.
• Analyzed data from 45,810 adults with intellectual disability, categorizing them into quintiles based on behavior problem severity.
• Examined the frequency of contact with psychologists across these quintiles.

Main Results:

• A distinct distribution of psychologist contact was observed across behavior severity quintiles.
• Individuals in the highest quintile for maladaptive behavior severity were high utilizers of psychology services.
• Approximately 37% of participants had no psychologist contact in the past year, while 26% had weekly or more frequent contact.

Conclusions:

• Psychology services are disproportionately utilized by individuals with intellectual disability exhibiting severe behavioral problems.
• Findings highlight significant gaps in access to psychological services for a substantial portion of the intellectual disability population.
• The study informs psychological practice within intellectual disability services and the broader context of managed behavioral health care.