Predictors of community-based employment for young adults with intellectual disability and co-occurring mental health conditions

Abstract

Purpose

To identify predictors of community-based employment and employment quality for young adults ages 23–30 with intellectual disability and co-occurring mental health conditions (YA-ID-MH).

Methods

We conducted secondary analysis of the 2017–2018 National Core Indicators^® (NCI^®) In-Person Survey. The NCI^® survey was conducted in 35 states and Washington DC. Participants: YA with ID, ages 23–30 who had complete data. We conducted multiple regression analyses to examine demographic and environmental predictors of community-based employment, in addition to employment quality indicators: hourly wages, hours worked, and job duration. We also descriptively examined job satisfaction.

Results

YA-ID-MH were somewhat less likely to be employed per record review and self-report than YA with ID only, but these findings did not reach statistical significance. On average, YA with ID only had higher hourly wages and worked more hours than those with ID-MH, but there were no significant differences in job duration. For YA-ID-MH, predictors of employment included gender, race, level of ID, and residential setting. Multiple demographic and environmental factors predicted employment quality.

Conclusions

YA-ID-MH experience employment disparities compared to YA with ID only. Service providers should specifically attend to those at the highest risk of unemployment/low quality employment.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions (ID-MH) experience employment disparities.

• Young adults with ID-MH who are non-white and female may have particularly low employment rates and employment quality.

• Societal-level interventions to address racial and gender-based bias may support individuals with ID-MH to acquire and maintain jobs by addressing disparities in social networks/social capital and ensuring equitable service provision and supports for those at the highest risk for unemployment.

• Policy makers should consider additional funding for employment services for transition-age youth with ID-MH, particularly those from marginalized populations.

Keywords:

• Employment
• intellectual disability
• mental health
• secondary analysis
• young adult
• transition

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Dorothy Hiersteiner of Human Services Research Institute with assistance with the NCI data set. Additional thanks to the National Core Indicators^® national team for their assistance.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Notes

1 In the United States, developmental disability is defined as a disability with onset before age 22, likely to continue throughout life, and is associated with functional limitations in three of more major life activities. Intellectual disability is defined as impairments in intellectual functioning and function in major life areas (i.e., “adaptive behavior”) [1,2].

2 While the authors firmly believe there are more meaningful ways of describing individuals’ function, the NCI® dataset did not include additional functional data. Therefore, we chose to use level of intellectual disability as a proxy for function, recognizing the significant limitations of this variable.

Additional information

Funding

Development of this manuscript was supported with funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research [NIDILRR, ARRTP grant number 90AREM0001]. NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this manuscript do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.