Comorbid Psychiatric Diseases in Children with Intellectual Disability and the Relationship Between Comorbid Psychiatric Diseases and the Levels of Anxiety Depression in Mothers

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the comorbid psychiatric disorders in children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and to evaluate the relationship between comorbid psychiatric disorders and mothers' anxiety depression level. Materials and Methods: 80 participants and their mothers whose ages are between 0-18 years and are diagnosed with intellectual disability and 60 healthy participants aged between 0-18 years without any chronic physical and psychiatric disease and their mothers were included in the study. A psychiatric interview according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria was conducted to determine if there is a comorbid psychiatric disease with the cases in the patient group. A sociodemographic data form and Beck Depression Scale and Beck Anxiety Scale were given to the subjects in both groups in order to determine the anxiety depression level of the mothers. Results: The anxiety and depression levels of the mothers in the ID group were found to be higher than those healthy and controlled mothers (p<0.001 for both). In addition, 55.6% of the cases in the ID group were detected to have comorbid psychiatric disease. Mothers with comorbid psychiatric disorders had higher anxiety depression scores than those without comorbid psychiatric diagnosis (p<0.001 for both). Conclusion: In this study, a high rate of comorbid psychiatric disease was found in children with ID. However, anxiety depression levels were higher in mothers of patients with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Comorbid psychiatric diseases cause more psychological burden on the mothers, therefore it is important that these children be assessed in this respect and to make the necessary interventions