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Query: UMLS:C0025362 (mental retardation)
 15,878 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

On February 1, 1985, the Abuse Investigation Division of the Office of Protection and Advocacy was created by Section 19a-458 of the Connecticut General Statutes. This division was designed to receive and investigate allegations of the abuse and neglect of adults with mental retardation and to ensure that necessary protective services are provided by appropriate agencies. The major components of the law were discussed, and data were reported concerning type of abuse and neglect, perpetrators, and locations in which it occurs.
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PMID:Protecting adults with mental retardation: a model statute. 273 66

This study was designed to compare manifestations of FAS in the offspring of lower and upper middle class chronic alcoholic mothers, and to compare these offspring with those of nonalcoholic controls. There was highly significant difference in the incidence of FAS offspring between upper middle and lower class alcoholic mothers, 4.5% versus 70.9% respectively. Mean weight, length, and head circumference at birth in children of upper middle class alcoholic women was -ISD, those of lower class alcoholic women fell into -2SD. All other parameters, congenital malformation rate, failure to thrive, mental retardation were also significantly greater in children of lower class alcoholic women (p less than or equal to .01). Attention deficit disorder was found in 21% of upper middle class offspring of alcoholic women as compared to 71% in the children of the lower socioeconomic group (p less than or equal to .01).
Adv Alcohol Subst Abuse 1987
PMID:The influence of socioeconomic factors on the occurrence of fetal alcohol syndrome. 342 75

Over a 5-year period, of the 461 cases of sexual abuse of adults with mental retardation, 37% were confirmed by the Abuse Investigation Division of the Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities. As expected, most of the victims were women (72%); their average age at the time of the incident was 30 years. Victims, for the most part, had no problems communicating verbally and had few, if any, secondary disabilities. As is the case in the general population, the majority of the perpetrators were men (88%) and included other adults with mental retardation, paid staff, family members, and others. Most sexual abuse occurred in the victim's residence, and in 92% of the cases the victim knew his or her abuser. Results were discussed and several concerns raised.
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PMID:Sexual abuse of adults with mental retardation: who and where. 808 68

Developmental neurotoxicity can be ascribed to in utero exposure to exogenous substances or to exposure of the fetus to endogenous compounds that accumulate because of genetic mutations. One of the best recognized human neuroteratogens is ethanol. The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is characterized by growth deficiency, particular facial features, and central nervous system (CNS) dysfunctions (mental retardation, microencephaly and brain malformations). Abuse of toluene by pregnant women can lead to an embryopathy (fetal solvent syndrome, (FSS)) whose characteristics are similar to FAS. Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic defect in phenylalanine (Phe) metabolism. Offspring of phenylketonuric mothers not under strict dietary control are born with maternal PKU (mPKU), a syndrome with similar characteristics as FAS and FSS. While ethanol has been shown to cause neuronal death, no such evidence is available for toluene or Phe and/or its metabolites. On the other hand, alterations in astrocyte proliferation and maturation have been found, mostly in in vitro studies, which may represent a potential common mode of action for at least some of the CNS effects found in FAS, mPKU, and FSS. Further in vivo and in vitro studies should validate this hypothesis and elucidate possible molecular targets.
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PMID:Developmental neurotoxicity: do similar phenotypes indicate a common mode of action? A comparison of fetal alcohol syndrome, toluene embryopathy and maternal phenylketonuria. 1205 59

By some accounts, sex offenders with mental retardation commit sex offenses against children because the offenders lack sexual knowledge or are socially and intellectually immature rather than because of sexually deviant interests. By other accounts, these offenders exhibit pedophilic sexual interests. In this study, phallometrically determined sexual interests, recidivism, and choices of victims of 69 sex offenders with mental retardation are examined and compared with those of 69 sex offenders of average or higher IQ. Consistent with hypotheses, sex offenders with mental retardation exhibit more deviant preferences for prepubertal children, male children, and young children than do the comparison offenders. They are also more likely to have had a prepubertal victim, a prepubertal male victim, and a very young victim. They are no more likely than the comparison offenders to exhibit preferences for extremely coercive sex with children or to exhibit deviant adult activity preferences, nor are they more likely to recidivate violently. Results support the idea that pedophilia is a disorder of neurodevelopment and point to the importance of risk assessments that include assessing sexual preferences among sex offenders with mental retardation.
Sex Abuse 2008 Dec
PMID:Sexual preferences and recidivism of sex offenders with mental retardation. 1902 Mar 37

Inahalant abuse is of increasing interest in India. The age of onset is typically during adolescence. Gasoline inhalant use is rarely reported in adolescents with intellectual deficit. We report a case of petrol dependence in a 10-year-old child with mental retardation. Possible effect of petrol huffing on behavior and cognition is discussed.
Subst Abuse 2015
PMID:Gasoline abuse in a 10-year-old child with mental retardation: a case report. 2573 44

Domestic abuse is prevalent in all strata of society and has been associated with various mental health problems. However, the severity of abuse in women with mental illness has not been studied much. The amount of distress experienced often depends on the severity of domestic abuse. Ability to tolerate distress may buffer the effect of abuse-this determines the perceived level of abuse. Both the severity of abuse and distress tolerance may in turn determine adherence behaviour towards treatment in mentally ill women. There is a paucity of research examining these variables. Hence this study was undertaken to examine the severity of abuse and distress tolerance and their relationship with medication adherence in women with mental illness. This study took place on an outpatient basis in the department of psychiatry at a tertiary care centre in South India. One hundred women with a mental illness currently in remission for at least two months -living in the community with family members after an episode of mental illness- were consecutively recruited by purposive sampling method after obtaining an informed consent. Due to issues related to reliability, patients with a diagnosis of mental retardation or dementia or psychotic symptoms were not included. All participants were initially assessed using socio-demographic and clinical forms. The severity of abuse was assessed with Composite Abuse Scale (CAS) and the level of distress tolerance was evaluated with Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Medication adherence status was assessed with the commonly used Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). There was a high level of abuse (mean 20.33, SD=20.55) and distress tolerance (mean 26.80, SD=12.07) in this sample as compared to those in general population. Scores in domestic abuse had a significant positive association with Tolerance (p=0.001) and Absorption (p=0.014) subscales of distress tolerance. Scores in domestic abuse had no statistically significant association with level of medication adherence. With the findings of this study, it can be concluded that women with mental illness face considerable level of domestic abuse and they have a higher capacity to tolerate distress. Severity of domestic abuse is inversely associated with their perceived ability to tolerate emotional distress; and positively associated with the level of attention being absorbed by negative emotions. The study was constrained by its cross-sectional design and small sample size, and further replication of data is needed with bigger sample size and control group.
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PMID:Severity of domestic abuse and its relationship with distress tolerance and medication adherence in women with mental illness in South India. 3111 52