Life events as correlates of problem behavior and mental health in a residential population of adults with developmental disabilities.

Very few existing empirical studies have explored the putative association between exposure to negative life events and psychological well-being in adults with developmental disabilities. In the present study, data on exposure to life events in the previous 12 months, adaptive behavior, problem behavior, and psychiatric problems were provided by care staff for 93 adults with developmental disabilities living in a residential hospital setting. Residents had typically been exposed to between three and four negative life events mainly relating to staffing and residence changes, conflict, family bereavements and relationships, and illness or injury. Those exposed to more recent life events were also rated as displaying more frequent aggressive/destructive behavior, and were at increased risk for affective/neurotic disorder. The need for replication of these data, especially using designs allowing causality to be inferred, is emphasized.