Abstract

This study examined the personal characteristics and social context of two groups of women with learning disabilities and psychiatric disorderswho resided in some form of community residential facility. One group of women had been admitted to hospital in the past 12 months (N =20) and the other had been maintained in the community without any admissions (N = 33). A prospective natural group comparison designwas employed over a 12-month period to study any differences between the groups. Data was collected from the women’s key workers usinga pro forma and three standardised instruments: Index of Social Competence, Aberrant Behaviour Checklist and the PAS-ADD Checklist.The groups were matched on age and level of learning disabilities. Differences were found between the groups’ behavioural and psychiatricprofiles. Anti-psychotic medication was the first line of treatment. A non-significant trend was found on negative life experiences, and a binarylogistic regression analysis confirmed that high levels of challenging behaviour and having behavioural/mental health management strategies inplace predicted hospital admission. The findings of this study are discussed and improvements are explored.