Health behaviours and mental health status of parents with intellectual disabilities: cross sectional study

Objectives: The authors sought to: (1) estimate the prevalence of health behaviours, mental health and exposure to social determinants of poorer health among parents with and without intellectual disability; and (2) determine the extent to which between-group differences in health behaviours/status may be attributable to differential exposure to social determinants of poorer health.

Study design: Cross sectional survey.

Methods: Secondary analysis of confidentialized needs analysis data collected in three Primary Care Trusts in England on 46,023 households with young children.

Results: Households containing a parent with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk of: (1) poorer parental mental health, parental drug and alcohol abuse and smoking; (2) exposure to a range of environmental adversities. Controlling for the latter eliminated the increased risk of poorer health for single parent households headed by a person with intellectual disabilities. For two parent headed households, risk of poorer parental mental health remained elevated.

Conclusions: The poorer health of parents with intellectual disability may be accounted for by their markedly greater risk of exposure to common social determinants of poorer health rather than being directly attributable to their intellectual disability.