Are Challenging Behaviors in Individuals with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disabilities Associated with Mood, Interest and Pleasure?

Abstract

Intellectual disability (ID) is defined as an impairment of social, conceptual, and practical abilities necessary for both intellectual and adaptive functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Such impairments have been shown to be associated with problem behaviors such as self-injury (SIB), aggressive behavior, and stereotypic movements. Though much research has been conducted on the etiology of challenging behavior, the association of mood, interest and pleasure, and behavior problems has rarely been investigated. The current cross-sectional study aimed to investigate whether mood and interest/pleasure may predict SIB, aggressive behavior and stereotypic behavior, or vice versa. Staff members of a Hungarian residential facility on behalf of 52 adults with severe and profound ID completed the Behavior Problems Inventory- Short Form (BPI-S), the Challenging Behavior Interview (CBI), and the Mood, Interest and Pleasure Questionnaire- Short Form (MIPQ-S). Multiple regression analyses showed that low interest/pleasure might be a possible predictor of frequency and severity of challenging behavior (BPI-S). At the same time, challenging behaviors may predict low levels of interest/pleasure. Future research on the causal direction between mood and interest/pleasure on the one hand and challenging behavior on the other ideally should focus on longitudinal data from young children.