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The Language of Change Among Individuals With Mild Intellectual Disability or Borderline Intellectual Functioning: Client Responses to Therapist Motivational Interviewing Skills

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The link between a therapist's motivational interviewing skills and the subsequent response of individuals with mild intellectual disabilities to borderline intellectual functioning (MID-BIF) is unknown. This study examines this sequential relationship and describes change talk (CT) in individuals with MID-BIF during substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. METHOD: In this study, 35 treatment sessions were sequentially coded using the Motivational Interviewing Sequential Code for Observing Process Exchanges. Observed and expected frequencies of transitions, transitional probabilities, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated in Generalized Sequential Querier software. Furthermore, frequencies of CT in IBM SPSS statistics were calculated. RESULTS: Questions and reflections of CT and two-sided questions were followed by CT. Questions and reflections of counter change talk (CCT) and two-sided questions were followed by CCT. Individuals expressed all kinds of CT utterances. CONCLUSIONS: Questions and reflections of CT are powerful skills in evoking CT in individuals with MID-BIF during SUD treatment.

Source: Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities

DOI: 10.1111/jar.70169

Authors: Lotte C. F. Gosens, Jannet M. de Jonge, Robert Didden, Roy Otten, Evelien A. P. Poelen

Institutions: Radboud University Nijmegen, Pluryn, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,600