Assessment and Treatment of Mental Health Problems in Children and Young People with Learning Disabilities

Established: April 2007; first meeting convened for June 2007

Convenor (Chair): Professor Emily Simonoff, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London; contact Emily.simonoff@iop.kcl.ac.uk

Members:
Professor Chris Oliver, Psychology University of Birmingham; Professor Patricia Howlin, Psychology Institute of Psychiatry; Dr. Steve Moss, Nursing, University of Manchester;
Professor Eric Emerson, Disability & Health Research, Lancaster University; Dr Oliver Chadwick, Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry; Dr Paul Gringras, Paediatric Disability
Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust; Professor Gillian Baird, Paediatric Disabilities, Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust; Professor Raoul Hennekam, Clinical Genetics, Institute of Child Health; Professor Bob Gates, Nursing and Learning Disabilities, Thames Valley University; Professor Martin Knapp, Health Economics, Institute of Psychiatry; Professor Bob Remington, Psychology, University of Southampton; Professor Frank Besag, Paediatrics, Bedfordshire and Luton Mental Health and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust; Dr. Philippa Russell, Disability Rights Commissioner, National Children’s Bureau; Dr. Sarah Bernard, Psychiatry of Learning Disabilities, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor Jeremy Turk, Developmental Psychiatry, St George’s Medical School; Ms.Christine Lenehan, Director Council for Disabled Children

Devolved nation members
Professor Richard Hastings, Psychology, University of Wales, Bangor

Remit and Aims:
The development of this group brings together a multi-disciplinary focus on the mental health needs of children and young people with intellectual disability. The aims are:
1.) To enhance the mental health assessments of children and young people with learning disability by:
a) Improving assessment tools
i) Reviewing currently available tools in relation to suitability with respect to nature of mental health problems, age and clients and degree of learning disability
ii) Identifying gaps in currently available assessment tools
iii) Initiating strategies for developing new assessment tools and ascertaining their utility and psychometric properties in clinical and research practice
b) Developing guidelines for the multidisciplinary assessment of children and adolescents presenting for evaluation of mental health problems

2.) To promote effective treatment of mental health problems in children and adolescents with mental health problems by:
c) Supporting research on risk factors for mental health problems
d) Supporting research evaluating the effectiveness of treatments currently offered
e) Promoting the development and evaluation of new treatments based on basic and applied science

Current Status & Future Plans:
This group has met on three occasions and have agreed that it would be beneficial to develop a more formal status as an MHRN research group. Two proposals have already been identified for submission:
1) led by Professor Chris Oliver, aims to identify children with severe learning disabilities at risk of developing self-injurious behaviour and delivering a preventative package of services to parents
2) led by Professor Gillian Baird, will focus on emotional and behavioural problems in young children with autism and will aim to clarify: 1) which simple, parent-report measures can be validly used in routine clinical practice; 2) how common are emotional and behavioural problems in children with autism; 3) how persistent are such problems (over one year)? This study will provide the backdrop for further intervention studies in the future.

The study group is also proposing to begin meeting on a regular basis to review existing measures of psychopathology that may be suitable for children and young people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of these meetings is to clarify the appropriate measures for different clinical and research purposes and to identify gaps. It is proposed that the group will write up for publication the results of their findings and, if appropriate, make applications for the development and use of further measures.