Brief report: Family networks of people with mild intellectual disability with and without challenging behaviour

Differences in perceived emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability with and without challenging behaviour were explored by using a self-report measure. One hundred and thirty-eight participants (78 men and 60 women, average age 28.2 years old) with mild intellectual disability were interviewed using the Family Network Method – Intellectual Disability to assess their emotionally supportive family relationships. The instrument maps the perceived emotional support among all the family members in the family networks of people with mild intellectual disability, with and without challenging behaviour. The results suggest that challenging behaviour may not be strongly associated with the family network characteristics and emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability. A few, and generally small, differences were found between the family networks of people with or without challenging behaviour. However, one moderate sized group difference was found: those with challenging behaviour reported less mutual support in their whole family network.