Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depressed Adults With Mild Intellectual Disability: A Pilot Study

Abstract

There is a paucity of research on psychosocial treatments for depression in adults with intellectual disability (ID). In this pilot study, we explored the efficacy of a group CBT treatment that involved a caregiver component in adults with mild ID with a depressive disorder. Sixteen adults with mild ID and a depressive disorder participated in a 10-week group CBT treatment and eight adults with mild ID with a depressive disorder served as a treatment as usual (TAU) control group. Adults with mild ID and caregivers completed measures of depressive symptoms, behavior problems, and social skills at pretreatment, posttreatment, and a 3-month follow-up. Adults with mild ID also completed a series of tasks to measure their understanding of the principles of cognitive therapy pre- and posttreatment. The CBT group demonstrated significant decreases in depressive symptoms and behavior problems from pretreatment to posttreatment and these effects were maintained at a 3-month follow-up. The CBT group demonstrated significant improvements in their ability to infer emotions and thoughts based on various situation-thought-emotion pairings from pretreatment to posttreatment. Findings indicate that adults with mild ID with a depressive disorder benefitted from a group CBT treatment with a caregiver component. Moreover, adults with mild ID appeared to benefit, at least in part, from the cognitive therapy components of the treatment, in addition to the behavior therapy components.

KEYWORDS:

• CBT
• depression
• intellectual disability
• developmental disability
• mental health
• psychosocial treatment

Additional information

Funding

The project described was supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to S. Hartley, previously through the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) 1UL1RR025011, and now by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), 9U54TR000021. This study was also funded in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; P30 HD0352 to M. Mailick). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.