Children born to parents with mild intellectual disability: Register-based follow-up of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental diagnoses and out-of-home placements.

AIM: Study the outcomes in terms of registered neurodevelopmental diagnoses and out-of-home placements in children whose parents had been diagnosed with mild intellectual disability (ID) in childhood. METHODS: The study groups consist of (1) a population-based sample of 78 individuals, born in 1979-1985, meeting criteria for mild ID during childhood, and (2) their 88 children. From national registers, data on outcomes were retrieved in 2020 regarding psychosocial and psychiatric outcomes for the adults, and neurodevelopmental diagnoses and out-of-home placements for the children. RESULTS: Of the 78 adults with mild ID, 31 were parents of 88 children, aged 0-21 . The age-adjusted prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders among the children was 67%. Of the 27 children aged between 13 and 21 years at follow-up, 16 had at least one registered neurodevelopmental diagnosis; 11 had ADHD and 7 had ID. Nine of these 27 children had experienced out of home placement. CONCLUSION: Children of parents with mild ID are at high risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular ADHD and ID, and out-of-home placements. Our findings indicate that individuals with mild ID who become parents routinely should be offered individually tailored parent support and their children offered assessment regard neurodevelopmental disorders.

Adult psychiatric and psychosocial outcomes of children with mild intellectual disability: a register follow-up of a population-based cohort.

BACKGROUND: Very few longitudinal psychiatric and psychosocial outcome studies of children with mild intellectual disability (MID) have been performed. METHODS: The study group was population based and consisted of 82 individuals, born in 1979-1985 and diagnosed in childhood at ages between 3 and 15 years with MID. In the present study, register data regarding school attendance, employment, economic situation, psychiatric diagnoses and criminal sentences were retrieved for the years 1997-2018, when the individuals were up to 39 years old. RESULTS: At follow-up, data were obtained for 78 of the 82 individuals (47 male and 31 female). Mean age at follow-up was 36 years. Of the 78 individuals, 57 (73%) had exclusively received education for pupils with MID, but 21 (27%) had graduated from regular education of some sort (at least 9 years). Forty-four (56%) had never been employed, and 34 (44%) had been registered as employed for at least a shorter period. Forty-seven (60%) had received a sick pension at some point in adulthood. Of the 78 individuals, 44 (56%) had any psychiatric disorder recorded and about half of these (n = 21) had had inpatient treatment. A total of 31 of the 44 individuals in psychiatric care (70%) had ID noted as one of their diagnoses. Of the 78 individuals, 48 (62%) had support from the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (Swedish LSS law) as adults. Twenty-one individuals (27%) had had a criminal conviction, of whom five male individuals had been incarcerated. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with MID constitute a heterogeneous group with regard to severity of functional impairment, co-occurring psychiatric disorders and need of support from society. Primary health care, psychiatry and habilitation services need to work together in order to meet the multiple needs of this group.