Photographic visualization of stories: documenting the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities with guided photovoice.

People with intellectual disabilities are often excluded from participation in research, whilst research has the potential to enhance positive change in their lives. In the current study, using a guided photovoice procedure, the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities regarding participation in research are evaluated. A total of 14 participants with intellectual disabilities were interviewed using guided photovoice. Through thematical analyses the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities regarding photovoice are discussed. Benefits were taking time, visual cues and the opportunity to speak out. Challenges were abstract concepts and aftercare. Guided photovoice helps to better understand the perspective of people with intellectual disabilities and thus can help to improve their quality of life. People with intellectual disabilities were interested in taking part in the current research project and experienced participating as a positive experience. However careful planning and expertise in communication with people with intellectual disabilities is necessary to include people with intellectual disabilities in research.

Resilience in the face of adversity: How people with intellectual disabilities deal with challenging times.

In people with intellectual disabilities research and policy are often still focused on risks or the prevention of risks. Research on the process of resilience is in its infancy in the care for people with intellectual disabilities. In the current study, applying a guided photovoice procedure, people with intellectual disabilities were asked what helped them to deal with adverse events. Additionally, informants from their social network were asked to reflect on this question. The following sources of resilience were identified: acceptance, autonomy, beautiful memories, perseverance, physical wellbeing, positive emotions, social skills, spirituality, activities, a home and the social network. Our findings provide practical guidelines for clinicians to talk about resilience with people with intellectual disabilities. Suggestions for future research are made that will contribute to the process of resilience and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

External sources promoting resilience in adults with intellectual disabilities: A systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND: Persons with an intellectual disability are at increased risk of experiencing adversities. The current study aims at providing an overview of the research on how resilience in adults with intellectual disabilities, in the face of adversity, is supported by sources in their social network. METHOD: A literature review was conducted in the databases Psycinfo and Web of Science. To evaluate the quality of the included studies, the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used. RESULTS: The themes: "positive emotions," "network acceptance," "sense of coherence" and "network support," were identified as sources of resilience in the social network of the adults with intellectual disabilities. CONCLUSION: The current review showed that research addressing sources of resilience among persons with intellectual disabilities is scarce. In this first overview, four sources of resilience in the social network of people with intellectual disabilities were identified that interact and possibly strengthen each other.

Assessing the quality of support and discovering sources of resilience during COVID-19 measures in people with intellectual disabilities by professional carers.

BACKGROUND: During COVID-19 measures face-to-face contact is limited and professional carers have to find other ways to support people with intellectual disabilities. COVID-19 measures can increase stress in people with intellectual disabilities, although some people may adapt to or grow from these uncertain situations. Resilience is the process of effectively negotiating, adapting to, or managing significant sources of stress and trauma. The current study aims to provide professional carers with new insights into how they can support people with intellectual disabilities. METHOD: An online survey was shared through the social media and organizational newsletters of MEE ZHN (a non-governmental organization for people with disabilities). The resilience framework by Ungar (2019) was adapted to fit to people with intellectual disabilities during COVID-19 measures. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS statistics version 26. RESULTS: Results show that professional carers applied diverse and distal methods to maintain contact with people with intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 measures. Professional carers reported a significant decrease in the quality of contact with clients with intellectual disabilities, but overall high levels of resilience in the same clients. IMPLICATIONS: Online methods of communication are possibly insufficient for professionals to cover all needs of people with intellectual disabilities. During this pandemic professionals should be aware of stress but also of resilience in people with intellectual disabilities.

Resilience in the face of adversity in adults with an intellectual disability: A literature review.

BACKGROUND: Persons with an intellectual disability are at a higher risk of experiencing adversities. The concept of resilience offers promising insights into facilitating personal growth after adversity. The current study aims at providing an overview of the current research on resilience and the way this can contribute to quality of life in people with intellectual disability. METHOD: A literature review was conducted in the databases PsycINFO and Web of Science. To evaluate the quality of the studies, the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used. RESULTS: The themes, autonomy, self-acceptance and physical health, were identified as internal sources of resilience. External sources of resilience can be found within the social network and daily activities. CONCLUSION: The current overview shows promising results to address resilience in adults with intellectual disability. More research is needed to identify the full range of resiliency factors.

Experiences of (young) women after out of home placement: An examination of personality disorder symptoms through the lens of child maltreatment.

BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment has been associated with the development of various mental health problems, including the development of personality disorders. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the association between child maltreatment and personality disorder symptoms in 125 women who transitioned out of residential care. METHOD: The Child Trauma Questionnaire was used for the measurement of child maltreatment, and Personality disorder symptoms were measured using the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire 4 + . The Psychological Distress Index was used to control for symptoms of distress. RESULTS: A Stepwise regression analysis showed that the majority of the associations were found between self-reported emotional abuse, neglect and personality disorder symptoms. Emotional abuse was significantly related to the Paranoid (ß = .42, p<0.001), Schizoid (ß = .18, p <0.05), Schizotypal (ß = .18, p<0.05), Histrionic (ß = .22, p<0.05), Avoidant (ß = .31, p < .001), Dependent (ß = 0.31, p < .001), Obsessive Compulsive (ß = 0.29, p = .001), Passive Aggressive (ß = 0.23, p<0.01) and the Depressive personality disorder (ß = .38, p < .001). Emotional neglect was significantly associated to the Borderline Personality Disorder (ß = .32, p<0.001) and the Paranoid Personality Disorder (ß =-0.22, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The current study underlines the detrimental effects of childhood maltreatment, and in particular the effects of emotional abuse and neglect.