Problem behavior and psychiatric impairment within a developmentally disabled population I: behavior frequency.

This report summarizes information about problem behavior and psychiatric impairment in a population of over 30,000 individuals receiving developmental disabilities services. Teenage and adult individuals displayed more problem behaviors than young children or the elderly, more markedly mentally retarded individuals were more likely to display problem behavior, individuals in less restrictive residential settings displayed less problem behavior than those in more restrictive settings, and persons with psychiatric impairment displayed more frequent problems than persons without psychiatric impairment. The proportion of developmentally disabled persons with a psychiatric impairment was positively associated with presence of problem behaviors classified as affective or cognitive. Implications for community placement and further research are addressed.