A preliminary study of perceived stress in adults with intellectual disabilities according to self‐report and informant ratings

Abstract

Background. Stress is a major risk factor for mental health problems in individuals with intellectual disabilities, but few studies on stress have been conducted that take both the perspective of the person with the disability and the caregiver into account. The present study evaluated an informant version of the Lifestress Inventory, and compared it to the self-report version.. Method. Seventy pairs of individuals with intellectual disability and their caregivers completed the Lifestress Inventory, the Inventory of Negative Social Interactions and the Birleson Depression Scale. Results. Informant and self-report ratings on the Lifestress Inventory were internally reliable, showed modest agreement with each other and correlated with the negative Social Interactions and Depression measures. The most troublesome stressors reported by informants and self-reports differed, however, and families tended to agree more with self-reports than staff informants. Conclusions. The informant version of the Lifestress Inventory is a suitable parallel instrument but not a replacement for self reports.

Stressful Social Interactions Experienced by Adults With Mild Intellectual Disability

“…Stressful social interactions involving more serious and intentional negative actions of others largely had the highest severity (e.g., damaged your property and told private or bad things about you to others). These findings are generally consistent with past research (Bramston et al, 1999; Hartley & MacLean, 2005; Lunsky & Benson, 2001; Lunsky & Bramston, 2006). …”

“…Sample items include “Said bad things about you” and “Took something of yours without asking.” Among adults with mild intellectual disability, this measure has been shown to have satisfactory reliability and criterion validity and was predictive of somatic complaints and depressive symptoms reported 8 months later (Lunsky & Benson, 2001; Lunsky & Bramston, 2006). All 40 items of the Inventory of Negative Social Interactions were used in this study.…”

“…This inventory has adequate 2-week test–retest reliability, internal consistency, and concurrent and criterion validity among people with intellectual disability (Bramston & Bostock, 1994; Bramston & Fogarty, 1995; Fogarty et al, 1997; Lunsky & Bramston, 2006). Three dimensions of stressful events are assessed in the Lifestress Inventory: Negative Interpersonal Relations (i.e., stressful social interactions), General Worry (i.e., stress surrounding everyday activities), and Coping (i.e., stress related to one’s disability).…”

Coping Strategies of Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability for Stressful Social Interactions

“…The Lifestress Inventory is a self-report measure of daily events or life situations developed for adults with ID. The Lifestress Inventory has adequate 2 week test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and concurrent and criterion validity among people with mild ID (Bramston & Bostock, 1994;Fogarty et al, 1997;Lunsky & Bramston, 2006). The 13 item Negative Interpersonal Relations dimension assesses negative actions of others or social situations and was used in the present study.…”

“…The INSI is a 40-item self-report inventory of negative social situations. Among adults with mild ID, the INSI has been shown to have satisfactory reliability and criterion validity (Lunsky & Benson, 2001;Lunsky & Bramston, 2006).…”