Abstract
Background: Sensitive responsiveness is an important aspect in affect-regulation of people with severe to profound intellectual disabilities. Aim: This randomized controlled trial evaluated the Attune & Stimulate-checklist, a tool for detecting subtle and idiosyncratic communicative behaviours and responding adequately. Methods: Effects on the sensitive responsiveness of professional caregivers and the arousal and valence of adults with severe to profound intellectual disabilities were investigated. Video recordings of 102 interactions were analysed with several observation instruments. Results: Although no significant effect was found on the checklist-suggestions of responsive behaviours (d = 0.33, p =.052), the intervention increased caregivers’ sensitive responsive and affective behaviour (d = 0.94 – 1.10, p <.001) and clients’ optimal arousal (d = 0.48, p =.019) and interactive engagement (d = 0.40 – 0.48, p =.018 -.050). Conclusion: This low-intensity intervention had a medium to large immediate effect on the interaction. Future research should investigate medium- and long-term effects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1136-1149 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 26 Jun 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are in particular grateful to all participants of our study, and for all people from the care organisations who contributed to the recruitment of these participants. We also thank the legal guardians of the persons with severe to profound intellectual disabilities for their consent. We acknowledge the contribution of the junior researchers, master's and bachelor's students to the data collection and coding processes. This work was supported by ZonMw (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development) located in the Hague (the Netherlands), under Grant 845004004 (the programme of ‘Gewoon Bijzonder’).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Funding
We are in particular grateful to all participants of our study, and for all people from the care organisations who contributed to the recruitment of these participants. We also thank the legal guardians of the persons with severe to profound intellectual disabilities for their consent. We acknowledge the contribution of the junior researchers, master's and bachelor's students to the data collection and coding processes. This work was supported by ZonMw (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development) located in the Hague (the Netherlands), under Grant 845004004 (the programme of ‘Gewoon Bijzonder’).
Keywords
- affect regulation
- arousal and valence
- professional caregivers
- sensitive responsiveness
- severe to profound intellectual disabilities