Background: One would assume that infection outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic have a deleterious effect upon the physical, mental, and/or social functioning of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Methods: A systematic search of four databases produced 18 articles. General information pertaining to the topics under consideration,…

Gastrointestinal symptoms and their relation to physical and mental aspects in adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are poorly understood, despite their high prevalence. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine psychological, behavioural and biological factors associated with gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with ASD (traits). We…

Attachment difficulties are associated with a range of adverse outcomes in mental health, and people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) may be at greater risk of experiencing difficulties in their attachment relationships. This review critically evaluated recent research measuring the prevalence of attachment difficulties in people with ID.…

Introduction: This systematic literature review aims to (a) identify how the parenting stress was used in the empirical studies as an independent, outcome, moderator and mediator variable, (b) identify the predictors of parenting stress in parents of children with ASD, (c) identify how parenting stress relates with mental health, and (d) make…

This paper provides an overview of the design and cohort characteristics of the Social Spectrum Study: a clinical cohort study that used a two-phase sampling design to identify children at risk for ASD. After screening 1281 children aged 2.5-10 years who had been consecutively referred to one of six mental health services in the Netherlands,…

Although homophobic verbal victimization has been associated with negative mental health outcomes, little actually is known about its general prevalence and relationship to mental health among adolescents. In addition, the relationship of homophobic name-calling to mental health in gender non-conforming adolescents is not well understood. This…

The loss of the partner is an important risk factor for developing serious psychological problems. In this study the authors examined the effect of the visiting service on the mental health and quality of life of older widowed individuals. They conducted a pragmatic randomized trial. All respondents were randomly assigned to a visiting service (n…

It is well established that children of problem drinkers have an increased risk of developing mental health problems, including drinking and drug misuse problems, depression, eating disorders, conduct disorders, and delinquency. However, compared to the hundreds of studies that have examined the effects of parental problem drinking on their…

Objective: The aims of this study were to examine health problems of children (4-12 years old at the time of the disaster) and adolescents (13-18 years old at the time of the disaster) before and after exposure to a fireworks disaster in the Netherlands (May 2000), to compare these health problems with a control group, and to identify risk factors…

This book presents information on the current health status of children and adolescents in the Netherlands. Chapter 1 discusses demographic factors, including population trends and life expectancy. Chapter 2 focuses on children's health status, reporting on child mortality rates, abortion, birth rate, family planning, perinatal health problems,…