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Background: People with intellectual disabilities are more likely to experience sleep problems, which can affect quality of life, physical health, mental health and well‐being. Methods: An integrative literature review was conducted to investigate what is known about behavioural sleep disturbances in people with an intellectual disability. The search used the following databases: Scopus, PsycInfo and Cinahl, to find papers published since 2015. Results: Within intellectual disability research, sleep appears as a common issue due to its high prevalence, negative relationships with an individual's physical and mental health, their quality of life, and impact of sleep problems on family or carers. The growing evidence base appears to support the use of behavioural, lifestyle and pharmacological interventions to improve sleep in people with an intellectual disability. Conclusion: A wide array of literature provides evidence that people with intellectual disabilities are affected by and need support with their sleep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supportive counseling and facilitated referrals to support organizations have shown positive effects on mental health and coping with domestic and family violence. However, the reasons why and how such effects are significant remain unknown. The current paper used data from a randomized controlled trial of a psychosocial intervention implemented in Nepal among 140 abused pregnant women. The hypothesized mediating effects of self‐efficacy and social support on mental health and quality of life of abused pregnant women were tested using serial mediation analyses. Significance of parameter estimates and bias‐corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the indirect effects were generated using bootstrapping. The postintervention changes in self‐efficacy and social support were found to have significant mediating effects on the relationship between the intervention and changes in both mental health and quality of life of participants post intervention. The positive effects on outcomes were seen at follow‐up as well, though to a lesser extent. Further interventions should focus on enhancing abused women's self‐efficacy and social support to ensure their positive mental health and better lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous countries have recognized the need for improved surveillance data on the health of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Federal agencies need additional information about the prevalence and health of persons with IDD to guide decisions about policies and programs. Without such data, health inequities and health needs of people with IDD can go unrecognized and be ignored, and resources may be misdirected. The priority areas for needed information, however, have not been well documented. To determine priorities for health data for persons with IDD, we conducted focus groups with three types of stakeholders from around the United States: researchers/practitioners, adults with IDD, and family members. Focus group dialogue was coded for themes and compared across stakeholder categories. Themes common to all groups included valuing people with IDD and respecting their self‐determination; affirming the need for data including longitudinal data; holding a holistic view of physical, mental, social, and sexual health; and access to quality health care, medications, and assistive equipment. Each group also contributed unique ideas such as importance of trust for disclosure of private information, stereotypes and discrimination, and social influences on health. Stakeholders identified specific health conditions to monitor, including COVID‐19. Findings have implications for establishing a health surveillance data system and for practice more generally. Health needs to be considered holistically, including physical, mental, social, and sexual health. A data framework needs to extend beyond a cross‐sectional comparative framework to include longitudinal tracking and monitoring conditions unique to persons with IDD. People with IDD may not trust nor disclose sensitive information about their disability and health to support persons and surveyors, which has implications for under‐reporting of prevalence of IDD and validity of proxy‐reporting. Input from multiple stakeholders is fundamental to developing a usable and relevant data collection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study examined the mental health of siblings of children with physical illness (PI), with or without co‐occurring mental illness. Methods: The sample included children aged 2 to 16 years with a chronic PI and their aged‐matched healthy siblings (n = 169 dyads). Physical–mental comorbidity (PM) was present if children screened positive for ≥1 mental illness on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents. Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to measure child and sibling mental health. Results: Within child–sibling dyads, siblings of children with PI had significantly worse mental health related to conduct problems (d = 0.31), peer problems (d = 0.18) and total difficulties (d = 0.20). Siblings of children with PM had significantly better mental health related to emotional problems (d = 0.42), hyperactivity/inattention (d = 0.23) and total difficulties (d = 0.32). Siblings of children with PI had similar mental health compared with child population norms used in the development of the SDQ. In contrast, siblings of children with PM had significantly worse mental health across all SDQ domains, with the exception of prosocial behaviour. After adjusting for parent psychopathology and family functioning, no statistically significant differences between siblings of children with PM versus siblings of children with PI were found. Conclusions: Differences in mental health exist between children with PI or PM versus their healthy siblings. However, differences between siblings of children with PI versus siblings of children with PM can be explained by parental and family factors (e.g. marital status, education and income). Findings reinforce family‐centred care approaches to address the needs of children with PI or PM and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Perinatal emotional well‐being is more than the presence or absence of depressive and anxiety disorders; it encompasses a wide range of factors that contribute to emotional well‐being. This study compares perinatal well‐being between women living in metropolitan and rural regions. Design: Prospective, longitudinal cohort. Participants/setting: Eight hundred and six women from Victoria and Western Australia recruited before 20 weeks of pregnancy and followed up to 12 months postpartum. Main outcome measures: Rurality was assessed using the Modified Monash Model (MM Model) with 578 in metropolitan cities MM1, 185 in regional and large rural towns MM2‐MM3 and 43 in rural to remote MM4‐MM7. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV (SCID‐IV) was administered at recruitment to assess depression, and symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured using the Edinburgh Post‐natal Depression Scale and the State and Trait Anxiety Scale, respectively. Other measures included stressful events, diet, exercise, partner support, parenting and sleep. Results: The prevalence of depressive disorders did not differ across rurality. There was also no difference in breastfeeding cessation, exercise, sleep or partner support. Women living in rural communities and who also had depression reported significantly higher parenting stress than metropolitan women and lower access to parenting activities. Conclusions: Our study suggests while many of the challenges of the perinatal period were shared between women in all areas, there were important differences in parenting stress and access to activities. Furthermore, these findings suggest that guidelines and interventions designed for perinatal mental health should consider rurality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many neuropsychiatric symptoms in persons of MCI cause negative impacts on their HRQOL. There is limited HRQOL research investigating the effect of Tai Chi on older people with MCI. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a Tai Chi program in enhancing health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) among community‐dwelling older people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Hong Kong. Methods: This was a quasi‐experimental study using a nonequivalent control group (CG) design. Four social centres for older people participated in the study, of which two centres were randomised for Tai Chi intervention and the other two were treated as control. Participants in the intervention group (IG) were arranged for a 1‐hour Tai Chi class twice weekly for 16 weeks, whereas participants in the CG were advised to join various recreational activities in the social centres as usual. For outcome evaluation, the Chinese version of the Short Form‐12 Health Survey‐Standard 1 (SF‐12) was employed to assess participants' perceived HRQOL. Results: One hundred and sixty participants were recruited (IG = 80, CG = 80). Data were collected at baseline (T0) and 16‐week post‐intervention (T1).The IG reported significant improvement in the physical health component (PCS) (p =.036), the mental health component (MCS) (p =.014), as well as several subscales of SF‐12, namely, the role‐physical (RP) (p =.044), the bodily pain (BP) (p <.001) and the vitality (VT) (p =.004) subscales, in comparison with the CG. Conclusion: The current study results extended our knowledge about Tai Chi of which the mind‐body exercise could enhance the physical and psychosocial well‐being in older people with MCI. Implications for practice: The findings have the potential to inform health and social care professionals to promote Tai Chi in community settings, as it may represent a non‐intensive and age‐fitting strategy to promote HRQOL in older people with MCI. Trial registration: NCT03404765 (Retrospectively registered January 19, 2018). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]