Cited by 102Behavioral and Psychological StudiesDown syndrome and intellectual disability researchAutism Spectrum Disorder Research

A meta-analysis of intervention effects on challenging behaviour among persons with intellectual disabilities

Open access
Heyvaert, M., Maes, B., Onghena, P.·2010·Journal of Intellectual Disability Research

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) often show challenging behaviour. We review distinct interventions that are applied to treat these challenging behaviours, and analyse intervention effects and moderating variables. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the databases ERIC, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Medline. A random-effects meta-analysis was carried out, supplemented with sensitivity, subgroup, meta-regression and publication bias analyses. RESULTS: Eighty potential articles were identified, from which 30 contained sufficient data to enable statistical meta-analysis. From these 30 studies, 18 described a biological, 13 a psychotherapeutic and nine a contextual intervention, either applied alone or combined. The overall standardised mean difference was 0.671 (SD = 0.051). As shown by sensitivity analysis, this summary effect size is robust. Assessed through subgroup and meta-regression analysis, all tested moderators showed no statistically significant association with the treatment effects. After applying a funnel plot-, a fail-safe N-, and Duval's and Tweedie's trim and fill-analysis, we conclude that our meta-analysis does not suffer much from publication bias effects. CONCLUSIONS: Several biological, psychotherapeutic and contextual interventions effectively reduce challenging behaviours among persons with ID.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01291.x

Cites

157 of 157 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Behavioural interventions can be effective in reducing challenging behaviour in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities.

    “Behavioural interventions can be effective in reducing CB in individuals with ASD and/or IDD (32, 33).”

    From ProVIA-Kids - outcomes of an uncontrolled study on smartphone-based behaviour analysis for challenging behaviour in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities or autism spectrum disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [33]

    The Description of primary studies and participants identifies behavioural interventions among the treatments reviewed, and the Discussion reports evidence that psychotherapeutic interventions can reduce challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities. The paper does not establish that finding for people with autism spectrum disorder who do not also have intellectual disabilities, so it supports the IDD portion but not the full stated population. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Higgins J.P.T. & Green S. (2008) Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.
  2. Kahng S., Iwata B.A. & Lewin A.B. (2002) Behavioural treatment of self-injury, 1964 to 2000. American Journal on Mental Retardation 107, 212-221.
  3. Khan K.S., Riet G., Popay J., Nixon J. & Kleijnen J. (2001) Study quality assessment (phase 5): Conducting the review (stage 2). Undertaking systematic reviews of research on effectiveness. CRD Report 4, 1-20.
  4. Prout H.T. & Nowak-Drabik K.M. (2003) Psychotherapy with persons who have mental retardation: An evaluation of effectiveness. American Journal on Mental Retardation 108, 82-93.
  5. Pearson D.A., Santos C.W., Roache J.D., Casat C.D., Loveland K.A., Lachar D. et al. (2003) Treatment effects of methylphenidate on behavioural adjustment in children with mental retardation and ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 42, 209-216.
  6. Shapira N.A., Lessig M.C., Lewis M.H., Goodman W.K. & Driscoll D.J. (2004) Effects of topiramate in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation 109, 301-309.
  7. Zarcone J.R., Hellings J.A., Crandall K., Reese R.M., Marquis J., Fleming K. et al. (2001) Effects of risperidone on aberrant behaviour of persons with developmental disabilities. A double-blind crossover study using multiple measures. American Journal on Mental Retardation 106, 525-538.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Heyvaert, M., Maes, B., & Onghena, P.
Affiliations
  • Research Foundation - Flanders (BE)
  • KU Leuven (BE)
Corresponding author
Heyvaert, M.
Venue
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2010-06-14
Volume
54
Issue
7
Pages
634-649
ISSN
  • 0964-2633 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2788
OpenAlex
W2122170346
Cited by
102
References
157
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 6
FWCI
1.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Intellectual Disability Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Down syndrome and intellectual disability research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
Keywords
behavioral problems, intellectual disability, behavioral interventions, biological interventions, psychotherapeutic interventions, contextual interventions, treatment effectiveness, publication bias
MeSH terms
Humans, Intellectual Disability, Psychotherapy, Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review