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Assessing quality of life of people with brain injury has a relevant role for developing strategies focused on personal outcomes that allow us to guide good practices and rehabilitation. So far, assessment of quality of life for this population has been restricted to an evaluation of personal outcomes from a health-related quality of life perspective. This approach it is mostly centered on physical health, however, quality of life needs to be addressed from a holistic and multidimensional perspective. The goal of this study is to identify core indicators of quality of life in brain injury based on a comprehensive theoretical model focused on the most relevant aspects of this population functioning. A Delphi study was carried out to obtain the specific core indicators of quality of life for this population. The methodology used to reach a consensus about the best indicators and items to measure quality of life involved four rounds and 14 experts on rehabilitation of people with brain injury. The Delphi study provided evidence of content validity for the field-test version of a new scale that will be applied to a wide sample in order to empirically check its suitability for this population.

An evaluation of support needs is fundamental to the provision of services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Services should be organized by considering the support that people need to improve their quality of life and enforce their rights as citizens. This systematic review is conducted to analyze the rigor and usefulness of the available standardized tools for assessing support needs, as well as the uses of their results. Several databases were consulted, including Web of Sciences, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest Central, PsycInfo, ERIC, and CINAHL, and the 86 documents that met the review criteria were organized into four sections: (a) measurement tools, (b) descriptive/correlational studies, (c) predictive studies, and (d) interventions. The results showed that age, level of intellectual disability, adaptive behavior skills, the number and type of associated disabilities, and medical and behavioral needs affected the support needs of people with disabilities. Quality of life outcomes have been predicted by the individual’s support needs, explaining a significant percentage of their variability. The findings are useful in guiding assessments and planning interventions. Further research should address the effectiveness of specific support strategies and the development of social policies and indicators for inclusion that involve assessing support needs.

This is the post-print version of a paper published in Quality of Life Research.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most frequently diagnosed disorders in children with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, the high variability of results in prevalence studies suggests problems that should be investigated further, such as the possible overlap between some ODD symptoms and challenging behaviors that are especially prevalent in children with ID. The study aimed to investigate whether there are differences in the functioning of ODD symptoms between children with (n = 189) and without (n = 474) intellectual disabilities. To do so, we analyzed the extent to which parental ratings on DSM-5 ODD symptoms were metrically invariant between groups using models based on item response theory. The results indicated that two symptoms were non-invariant, with degrees of bias ranging from moderately high (“annoys others on purpose”) to moderately low (“argues with adults”). Caution is advised in the use of these symptoms for the assessment and diagnosis of ODD in children with ID. Once the bias was controlled, the measurement model suggested prevalences of 8.4% (children with ID) and 3% (typically developing children). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Background/Aims Medical and behavioral needs are relevant in organizing and providing support strategies that improve the quality of life for children, along with their families. The present study aims to examine the impact of medical and behavioral needs on the need for support of children with disabilities. Methods Health and education professionals were interviewed using the Supports Intensity Scale-Children’s version to estimate the support needs of 911 children and adolescents (5–16 years) with an intellectual disability, including 55.32% with an additional disability. For data analysis, a model for measuring support needs was specified, consisting of seven support needs factors and three method factors. In estimating the model, four groups of medical and behavioral needs were considered. The factor scores’ means of the groups were compared through t-tests. Results Medical and behavioral needs had an impact on overall support needs. Differences were found in all support domains for medical needs. The greatest influence of behavioral needs was found in the Social and School participation areas but was indistinguishable between the mild and moderate levels of needs. Conclusions Medical and behavioral needs greatly affect the need for support in a child’s daily life, so they need to be considered a priority for support services. The importance of standardized assessments is emphasized to help develop support strategies.

Background This study assessed the equivalence of the measurement of support needs between children with intellectual disability (ID) and children with intellectual and motor disabilities (IMD) and compared both groups in the different domains of support. Method The Supports Intensity Scale‐Children's Version was used to assess the support needs of 713 children with ID and 286 children with IMD, mainly associated with cerebral palsy. Results The results supported measurement invariance between the group of ID and IMD, which allowed to conduct comparison between them. Children with IMD scored higher on support needs than did children without IMD, suggesting that children with IMD needed more support than their peers without motor impairments. Furthermore, the ID levels interacted with motor impairments: at the highest levels of ID, groups tended to be similar in support needs, with high scores and low variability. The greatest differences were found in the domains of Home and Community activities. Conclusions This study points to the across‐condition of the construct of support needs in populations with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, additional mobility impairments should be considered during the evaluation and planning of systems of support. In this regard, the Supports Intensity Scale‐Children's Version might have limitations when discriminating between samples with high support needs.