Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Face Critical Mental Health Care Gaps, New Study Finds

New research from Special Olympics Health reveals disproportionately high rates of mental health struggles and persistent barriers to care for adults with IDD.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are over nine times more likely to report a diagnosis of anxiety or depression and experience significantly higher mental health symptom burden, according to a new study published today in JAMA Network Open.

Drawing on U.S. National Health Interview Survey data from 2021–2023, researchers analyzed responses from 44,478 adults aged 18 and older, including 796 adults with IDD. The results provide a clear national picture of the mental health challenges and access barriers faced by adults with IDD in the United States.

Key findings show that, compared to adults without functional limitations, adults with IDD experience substantially higher rates of anxiety and depression, greater symptom burden, higher use of medication for these conditions, and significant barriers to accessing therapy. Specifically:

Adults with IDD are more than nine times more likely to report a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression.
Reports of daily depression are 18 times more common among adults with IDD.
Adults with IDD are seven times more likely to take medication for anxiety and nearly nine times more likely to take medication for depression.
Despite high medication use, adults with IDD are more than five times more likely to report being unable to access needed therapy due to cost.

These disparities reflect well-documented systemic barriers, including too few providers trained in IDD-informed mental health care, insurance and reimbursement policies that fail to account for necessary accommodations, physical and communication inaccessibility, and diagnostic overshadowing.

The lived experiences of these challenges are deeply personal. As shared by Special Olympics Wisconsin athlete, Kayte Barton: “When I was struggling, I reached out for support. Too often, my disability was seen before my mental health. I wasn’t fully heard, and my needs were missed. That experience is painful—and it causes many people to stop asking for help altogether.”

“Adults with IDD are facing a mental health crisis hiding in plain sight,” said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, Special Olympics Chief Health Officer and corresponding author on the study. “They are over nine times more likely to live with anxiety or depression, yet far less likely to receive the affordable, accessible care they need. This is a systemic failure—not an inevitability.”

Special Olympics is working to close these gaps through Strong Minds, its mental health screening within Special Olympics Healthy Athletes®. Data from these screenings have shown that 94% of U.S. athletes intend to adopt healthy coping skills after completing Strong Minds. Additionally, a 2024 retrospective cohort study found that individuals with IDD participating in Special Olympics are 49% less likely to be diagnosed with depression. Such findings suggest that participating in activities involving physical activity and social connection, such as Special Olympics, positively impacts the mental health of adults with IDD and should be more widely available.

Despite these outcomes, substantial system-level barriers remain. Expanding inclusive mental health will require coordinated action and attention to ensure these urgent disparities are addressed.

To read the full study, visit JAMA Network Open.

About Special Olympics
Founded in 1968, Special Olympics is a global sports movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. We foster acceptance of all people through the power of sport and programming in education, health and leadership. With more than 4.6 million athletes and Unified Sports® partners and over one million coaches and volunteers in more than 200 countries and territories, Special Olympics offers over 30 Olympic-type sports and delivers more than 60,000 events and competitions each year. Engage with us on: X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Learn more at SpecialOlympics.org.

SOURCE Special Olympics International

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