Risk Factors for Self-injurious Behavior in an Inpatient Psychiatric Sample of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Naturalistic Observation Study

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2018-11, Vol.48 (11), p.3678-3688
• Main Authors: Handen, Benjamin L., Mazefsky, Carla A., Gabriels, Robin L., Pedersen, Kahsi A., Wallace, Meredith, Siegel, Matthew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; At Risk Persons; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - complications; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Autistic adolescents; Autistic children; Behavior Problems; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Caregivers; Child; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child and School Psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Classification; Complications and side effects; Female; Health behavior; Hospitalization; Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data; Hospitalized Children; Hospitals, Pediatric - statistics & numerical data; Hospitals, Psychiatric - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Inpatients - psychology; Inpatients - statistics & numerical data; Intensive care; Intensive treatment; Male; Mental disorders; Neurosciences; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Prediction models; Psychiatry; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Public Health; Questionnaires; Risk behavior; Risk factors; S.I. : Autism Inpatient Collection - Studying the Severely Affected; Self Destructive Behavior; Self injury; Self-Injurious Behavior - epidemiology; Self-Injurious Behavior - psychology; Severity; Severity (of Disability); Social aspects; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3460-2

Limited information about self-injurious behavior (SIB) is known for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who require intensive behavioral health interventions. We examined risk-factors for SIB in 302 individuals with ASD (ages 4–20) admitted to six specialized psychiatric inpatient units. Seventy-four percent were reported by a caregiver to display SIB, however, only 25% were observed to engage in daily SIB during hospitalization. Those exhibiting SIB across environments had significantly higher ratings on caregiver questionnaires of SIB severity. Tree-structured classification was used to develop and validate two predictive models, one indicating which inpatient youth with ASD are likely to have SIB and a second indicating which individuals with SIB at home are likely to continue in an inpatient setting.