Comparative analysis of self-injurious behaviour topographies in young children with and without developmental delay.
W E MacLean, A F Dimian, J Hoch and 2 others
PMID 32643272WHAT IT FOUND
Parents rated five self-injury actions as more common in children with developmental delay than typically developing children.
Five actions were also rated as a bigger problem. Children with developmental delay were more likely to have two or more actions.
Key findings
01Five of eight self-injury actions were significantly more common in children with developmental delay than typically developing children.
02The average number of self-injury actions per child was 2.52 in children with developmental delay and 1.43 in typically developing children, and this difference was significant.
03In children with developmental delay, moderate or severe ratings were reported for hits self with object (80%), skin picking (71%), hits self with body part (60%), and hits self against surface or object (47%). No typically developing child had a moderate or severe rating.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This article does not provide full participant and measure details, because it points to a previous report. The rating scale describes actions such as hitting or biting, not the body part involved, so it cannot show whether the child is hitting the head. The severity rating does not include physical injury. The typically developing group had no published reliability data, and the authors calculated an internal consistency value of 0.74. Self-biting was not reported for the typically developing group, but the authors note the measure may miss behaviours that parents did not see as a problem. The study did not test any treatment, so it cannot show that a therapy changes self-injury.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflict of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these findings to choose or evaluate a treatment. The study compared parent-reported behaviour patterns. It did not test any intervention.