Key result
Adults with intellectual disability reported higher perceived stress levels compared to controls.
Why the study?
Individuals with intellectual disability face daily stressful challenges that may increase cardiovascular risk, but whether they experience higher subjective stress, different stressors, or related cardiometabolic changes compared to the general population was unestablished.
Do young adults with intellectual disability experience higher subjective stress, and is it related to their cardiometabolic profile compared to controls?
Cross-Sectional (n=64)
Do young adults with intellectual disability experience higher subjective stress, and is it related to their cardiometabolic profile compared to controls?
Young adults with intellectual disability experience higher perceived stress and social isolation, which correlates with adverse cardiometabolic markers like arterial stiffness.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Higher perceived stress in intellectual disability supports clinical screening; cross-sectional data leaves open cardiometabolic links.
Purpose Stress produces many physiological changes, some of which may contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are exposed to multiple and stressful challenges everyday which may put them at increased cardiovascular risk. This current study aimed to establish whether adults with ID experience higher levels of subjective stress and encounter different stressors (including social isolation) than the general population, and whether there is a relationship between stress and cardiometabolic profile in this population.Methods Adults with ID (n = 35) aged 18–45 years completed the Subjective Stress Survey, and underwent a physiological assessment to measure blood pressure, metabolic profile and subclinical CVD risk factors, and were compared to a control group (n = 29). Multiple regression was used to investigate whether cardiometabolic parameters were predicative of SSS scores.Results Findings showed adults with ID have higher perceived stress levels (total score ID: 21.3 ± 11.4 vs control: 13.9 ± 9.0, p = 0.006), which is elicited by unique stressors, when compared to people without ID. Stress was strongly associated with increased social isolation (r = −0.38, p = 0.002) and with obesity in females with mild ID (r = 0.72). Regression showed that arterial stiffness was predictive of total SSS score (p = 0.038).Conclusions Adults with ID aged 18–45 years report higher levels of perceived stress when compared to people without ID.Implications for RehabilitationReducing stress in this young population may prevent development of arterial stiffness, and consequently lower the risk of cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality.There are unique targets for stress management in young adults with intellectual disability, including supporting decision-making and improving self-efficacy.Improving community integration and reducing social isolation may decrease perceived stress in young adults with intellectual disability.
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Zwack et al. (2022) conducted a cross-sectional in Intellectual disability (n=64). Intellectual disability vs. People without intellectual disability (control group) was evaluated on Perceived stress levels (total Subjective Stress Survey score) (p=0.006). Adults with intellectual disability reported higher perceived stress levels compared to controls.
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