Background: This study examines the relationship between the topography of challenging behaviour, subsequent attributions and emotional responses, with whether carers use physical intervention and their satisfaction with their intervention. Method: Thirty-seven carers described incidents where a person with an intellectual disability had exhibited verbal or physical aggression. The carer rated attributions of controllability, internality, globality and stability, global evaluations of the person's behaviour and of the persons themselves, emotions of anger and sympathy, and satisfaction with their intervention. The topography of the aggressive behaviour (verbal or physical) and the topography of the intervention (physical intervention or non-physical intervention) were coded from accounts of the incident given by carers in the interview. Results: Attributions of control and internality were significantly associated with less satisfaction with intervention. People who presented with physical aggression were evaluated more negatively. However, only the topography of the behaviour (whether the incident was verbal or physical aggression) was associated with the use of physical intervention. Conclusions: This study did not find a relationship between cognitive-emotional variables and the topography of intervention. However, relationships between cognitive variables and satisfaction with intervention were observed. Implications for research and clinical work are discussed.