Balanced Treatment and Assessment Approaches

Abstract

The issue of emotional disorders in mentally retarded persons, like many problems in this group of persons, has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves. There have been periodic pleas for assessment, treatment, and program development for some time. There are a few programs, notably those at the University of Nebraska, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Louisiana State University, which emphasize both training and clinical service. Given the small number of programs available, however, little in the way of practical results has occurred on a national scale (Matson, 1985b). Having said this, it is also worth noting that sufficient research has been done to suggest the serious nature of the problem. A few examples should be sufficient to exemplify the situation. Pollock (1944) found that among 444 mentally retarded persons admitted to New York State hospitals in 1942, over 40% were deemed to be psychotic. Similarly, Dewan (1948) reported that 47% of the Canadian army recruits diagnosed as mentally retarded were also suffering from emotional problems. These two studies involved adult populations, but children have also been identified in large numbers. Rutter, Graham, and Yule (1970) found that the incidence of emotional problems in children was five to six times that observed in the general population in their now classic British study, the Isle of Wight.