Psychopathology of children with mental retardation

The issue of mental health in children with mental retardation began to be addressed more closely after the recent introduction of the term »dual diagnosis« denoting the coincidence of mental illness and mental retardation. At pre­sent, there is still much vagueness regarding the recognition of mental illness, possible causes and factors influencing the development of men­tal illness and the medical treatment used. The aim of the study was a) to determine possible differ­ences in physical and social characteristics between children with mental retardation and those without intellectual disabilities, b) to inves­tigate the impact of various demographic, physi­cal and social factors on the level of mental retardation, c) to determine the incidence of men­tal illnesses among children with mental retarda­tion and the affects of demographic, physical and social factors on these illnesses. Our study involved 46 children with mental retardation and 50 chil­dren without intellectual disabilities. Signs of emo­tional and behavioural disturbances were identified using the Developmental Behaviour Checklists completed by class teachers. The results of the study have confirmed the value of Developmental Behaviour Checklist for clinical work and research. The correlations observed speak for the coinci­dence and interdependence of physical occur­rences, social influences, mental retardation and mental illness in the child’s development.