The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents with Learning Disabilities in Britain

A previous project by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities analysed data that had been collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 1999 in their survey of the mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain. The Foundation found that in this nationally representative sample of just over 10,000 children, 39% of 5-15 year old British children with learning disabilities had a diagnosable mental health problem (compared to 8% among children who did not have learning disabilities). In 2004 the ONS repeated their survey on a new sample of over 7,000 children. The aims of the present study are, by analysing combined data from the 1999 and 2004 ONS Surveys of the mental health of children and adolescents in Britain, to ascertain: (1) the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents with learning disabilities in Britain (overall prevalence, prevalence of specific disorders, prevalence of combinations of disorders); (2) the extent that learning disabilities represents a risk factor for psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents? (3) the extent that risk factors for psychiatric disorder (e.g., gender, familial socio-economic position, life events) within the population of children and adolescents with learning disabilities correspond to those within the general child and adolescent population; and (4) the support that families supporting a child with learning disabilities and of psychiatric disorders receive? This report, based on the experiences of over 18,000 children aged between 5 and 15 years old found that one in three (33 per cent) children with learning disabilities are likely to have a mother with mental health needs and nearly half are living in poverty (47 per cent). Young people with learning disabilities also have fewer friends than other children living in Britain and are more likely to suffer abuse and be involved in serious accidents. (Contains 8 tables and 2 figures.)