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Associated Factors of Self-injury Among Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Community and Residential Treatment Setting

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Abstract

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) occurs in up to 50% of individuals with autism. As one of the most serious conditions in individuals with developmental disabilities, SIB affects the individual and his or her family in multiple contexts. A systematic analysis of factors most commonly associated with SIB could inform the development of individualized intervention strategies. The current study examined factors related to SIB in an analysis of client records of 145 children with autism in a comprehensive care center. Predictor variables included age, gender, the Adaptive Behavior Composite, sensory processing, aggression, stereotypies, irritability, adaptive skills, and medical conditions. Age, irritability, and the Adaptive Behavior Composite were found to significantly predict SIB.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported here was part of the dissertation project of the first author. The contents of this publication are those of the authors and do not represent views or policies of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Acknowledgments should be made to the dissertation committee of the first author, including Rune J. Simeonsson, Ph.D., Johanna Lantz, Ph.D., Sandra Evarrs, Ph.D., Steven Knotek, Ph.D., and Jean Mankowski, Ph.D.

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  1. Jacqueline Flowers

    Present address: Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University Medical Center, 2608 Erwin Road, Suite 300, Durham, NC, 27705, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB 3500 Peabody Hall, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3500, USA

    Jacqueline Flowers & Rune J. Simeonsson

  2. The Center for Discovery, 60 Holmes Road, Monticello, NY, 12701, USA

    Johanna Lantz & Terry Hamlin

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  1. Jacqueline Flowers
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  2. Johanna Lantz
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Contributions

RJS, TH, JL and JF contributed to conception and design of study. JL and JF contributed to acquisition of data. JF contributed to analysis and/or interpretation of data. JF contributed to drafting the manuscript. RJS, TH, JL and JF revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

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Correspondence to Jacqueline Flowers.

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Conflict of interest

Jacqueline Flowers has received no compensation for this project, which has served as her dissertation study. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (include name of committee + reference number) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 3.

Table 3 Assessment of self-injury
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Appendix 2

See Table 4.

Table 4 Measures and variables
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Appendix 3

See Tables 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Table 5 Descriptive data for all participants
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Table 6 Descriptive data for all participants: SIB
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Table 7 Descriptive data for residential participants
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Table 8 Descriptive data for residential participants: SIB
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Table 9 Correlation matrix: all participants
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Table 10 Correlation matrix: residential participants
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Table 11 SIB-frequency regression model (full sample)
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Table 12 SIB-severity regression model (full sample)
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Table 13 SIB-frequency regression model (residential sample)
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Table 14 SIB-severity regression model (residential sample)
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Flowers, J., Lantz, J., Hamlin, T. et al. Associated Factors of Self-injury Among Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Community and Residential Treatment Setting. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 2987–3004 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04389-4

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