Predictors of work participation of young adults with mild intellectual disabilities

• Personal and social factors are valuable in predicting work participation.
• Expectations regarding future work predicted finding and maintaining employment.
• Living situation predicted both work outcomes as well.
• Motivation was a stronger predictor for finding employment.
• Predictors for finding work and for maintaining employment were comparable.

Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are three to four times less often employed compared to their non-disabled peers. Evidence for factors associated with work participation of young adults with ID is limited. Furthermore, studies on predictors for sustainable work participation among young adults with ID is lacking altogether. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate which factors predict finding as well as maintaining employment of young adults with mild ID. We obtained data on 735 young adults with mild ID, aged 15–27 years, applying for a disability benefit. The follow-up period ranged from 1.25 to 2.75 years. Motivation, expectations regarding future work level and living situation predicted finding work as well as maintaining employment for at least 6 months. In this study, especially personal factors were influential in predicting work outcome and may be suitable factors to include in interventions.