Risk factors of and interventions for mental health problems in learning disabilities: a systematic review of psychological therapies for parents and children

This systematic review examined studies on interventions for parents and their children with learning disabilities to offer an overview of interventions (psychological and psychosocial therapies) for mental health problems associated with learning disabilities and the risk factors for mental health problems in children with learning disabilities and their parents. CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, MEDLINE, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, APA PsycArticles, ProQuest, Embase, Social Sciences Citation (Web of Science) were searched for scholarly studies published between 2010 and 2021 on psychosocial interventions, and psychological therapies for learning disabilities, and related developmental disorders. Ten papers involving parents and their child with a learning disability were relevant to the review question and the objective of the review as they looked at a variety of interventions namely, cognitive behaviour therapy, problem solving and assertiveness training, individual and group counselling, emotion regulation, stress management, resilience training, and relaxation therapy. These studies demonstrated support for the assertion that parents and their children with learning disabilities present mental health problems including anxiety and depression. Yet, the review revealed that there are few interventional studies addressing the risk factors for mental health problems among parents and their children with learning disabilities. As such, adopting a socio-ecological or contextual approach to identifying the risk and protective factors for psychopathology in families of children with learning disabilities is especially important to the development of interventions to improve behavioural control as well as the motivational and socio-emotional aspects of challenging behaviours exhibited by children with learning disabilities.