SynthesisJournal of intellectual disability research : JIDR2020
Non-pharmacological interventions for challenging behaviours of adults with intellectual disabilities: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antipsychotic medication for behaviors that challenge in individuals with intellectual disabilities: a clinically informed review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for challenging behaviours of adults with intellectual disabilities: A meta-analysis.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2020Pooled it
- ASPIRE-Med project: a study protocol on an Australian psychotropic medicines training programme for disability support workers.BMJ open · 2026Article
- An Australian Co-Designed Template for Accessible Medicines Information for People With Intellectual Disability.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID · 2026Article
- Reducing aggressive behavior in forensic inpatients with virtual reality aggression prevention training-intellectual disability: a pilot study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Behaviours that challenge in children with intellectual disability: systematic review and meta-analysis of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.BJPsych open · 2025Review
- Complex Psychotropic Polypharmacy in Soweto-based community psychiatry clinics.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2025Article
- An Individual Music Intervention for Adults With Intellectual Disabilities and Challenging Behavior: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Causes of and Alternatives to Medication for Behaviours That Challenge in People with Intellectual Disabilities: Direct Care Providers' Perspectives.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Support staff liaising effectively with family caregivers: Findings from a co-design event and recommendation for a staff training resource.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Short-Term Psycho-Education for Caregivers to Reduce Overmedication of People with Intellectual Disabilities (SPECTROM): Development and Field Testing.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Deprescribing in Patients with Intellectual Disability.Innovations in clinical neuroscienceReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNon-pharmacological interventions are recommended for the treatment of challenging behaviours in individuals with intellectual disabilities by clinical guidelines. However, evidence for their effectiveness is ambiguous. The aim of the current meta-analysis is to update the existing evidence, to investigate long-term outcome, and to examine whether intervention type, delivery mode, and study design were associated with differences in effectiveness.
methodAn electronic search was conducted using the databases Medline, Eric, PsychINFO and Cinahl. Studies with experimental or quasi-experimental designs were included. We performed an overall random-effect meta-analysis and subgroup analyses.
resultsWe found a significant moderate overall effect of non-pharmacological interventions on challenging behaviours (d = 0.573, 95% CI [0.352-0.795]), and this effect appears to be longlasting. Interventions combining mindfulness and behavioural techniques showed to be more effective than other interventions. However, this result should be interpreted with care due to possible overestimation of the subgroup analysis. No differences in effectiveness were found across assessment times, delivery modes or study designs.
conclusionsNon-pharmacological interventions appear to be moderately effective on the short and long term in reducing challenging behaviours in adults with intellectual disabilities.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.