Intellectual disabitily, challenging behavior, and care: A systematic literature review

Introduction and background: People with intellectual disabilities present difficult behaviors, also called problem behaviors or challenging behaviors.
Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the state of knowledge in nursing about challenging behaviors in people with intellectual disabilities.
Methodology: We performed a systematic literature review based on the use of the keywords “challenging behavior,” “intellectual disability,” “nurs*,” and “problem behavior” on the PubMed and Web of Science websites between 2008 and 2018.
Results: Individuals with intellectual disabilities frequently present challenging behaviors, which can give rise to the abuse of psychotropic medication. These behaviors are also stressful for staff. Solutions in terms of staff training exist, as well as assistance in the identification of associated diagnoses that may sometimes be responsible for challenging behaviors. No publications in French on this topic were found.
Conclusion: Nurses who work with people with intellectual disabilities should be encouraged to become involved in research so that they can contribute to developing knowledge on challenging behaviors and improve the quality of their care. This will also enable them to further develop their collaboration within the multidisciplinary team in order to promote good practice in terms of the management of challenging behaviors and in particular in terms of promoting a move away from prescribing psychotropic drugs.