A Review of Behavioral Treatments for Self-Injurious Behaviors of Persons With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are considered to be among the most serious of the mental health conditions. Concomitant with many cases of ASD is intellectual disability. Further compounding the disability is the fact that both conditions are known risk factors for self-injurious behavior (SIB). To...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavior Modification 2008-01, Vol.32 (1), p.61-76
Main Authors: Matson, Johnny L., LoVullo, Santino V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autistic Disorder - psychology
Autistic Disorder - therapy
Behavior Modification
Behavior Problems
Behavior Therapy - methods
Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Case Studies
Evidence-Based Medicine
Functional Behavioral Assessment
Humans
Intellectual Disability - psychology
Intellectual Disability - therapy
Intervention
Medical sciences
Outcomes of Treatment
Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Punishment
Reinforcement
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Risk
Self Destructive Behavior
Self-Injurious Behavior - prevention & control
Self-Injurious Behavior - psychology
Treatments
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are considered to be among the most serious of the mental health conditions. Concomitant with many cases of ASD is intellectual disability. Further compounding the disability is the fact that both conditions are known risk factors for self-injurious behavior (SIB). To date, the most effective intervention methods, based on the available data, appear to be variants of behavior modification. This article provides an overview of the current status of learning-based interventions for SIB in ASD and provides a review of specific studies. Although most studies describe some combination of reinforcement and punishment procedures, efforts are under way to develop more positively oriented strategies, such as functional assessment, to decrease the use of punishment. However, almost all the treatment studies employ single case designs, thus preventing a comparison of treatment efficacy. These issues are discussed along with other strengths, weaknesses, and future directions for clinical practice and treatment.
ISSN:0145-4455
1552-4167
DOI:10.1177/0145445507304581