| Summary: | Background This study explores whether people with intellectual disabilities make links between events, beliefs and emotions in dialogues about real life, emotive events. Methods A cognitive-emotive interview was used to assist nineteen adults with intellectual disabilities and nineteen adults without disabilities in generating an account of an emotive, interpersonal event. Participants also completed a cognitive mediation task and an assessment of intellectual and verbal ability. Results Participants with intellectual disabilities generated fewer beliefs within their dialogues than those without disabilities and were less likely to provide alternative perspectives on events. The ability to make links between events, beliefs and emotions within a dialogue was not associated with performance on a cognitive mediation task, or with general or verbal IQ. Conclusions Participants with intellectual disabilities had more difficulty than those without disabilities in making links between events, beliefs and emotions. Within a therapeutic context, they are likely to require assistance to reflect on events and consider alternative interpretations, which take into account individual and environmental factors.
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