Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate an Abuse Prevention Curriculum for Women and Men With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

This study was designed (a) to assess the impact of the ESCAPE-DD curriculum on the decision-making skills of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in hypothetical situations of abuse, (b) to examine the role of problem awareness, and (c) to identify factors associated with posttest decision-making performance. Fifty-eight women and men with IDD were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a wait-list control group. Participants who experienced ESCAPE-DD made significantly greater gains on measures of overall effective decision making and safe-now effective decision-making relative to participants in the control group. Problem awareness was related to decision making, but it did not improve as a result of the intervention. Implications of the findings for future curriculum-development efforts are discussed.