Prevalence and Predictors of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Objectives:To find the prevalence as well as to identify the predictors as protective and risk factors of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Methods:In this analytical cross sectional survey 83 children with ASD age range from 8 to 18 years were selected through convenient sampling technique from five special schools of Lahore city. The Urdu form of a standardized tool was used to assess NSSI.Results:Statistical analysis indicated overall point prevalence of NSSI was 33%. Moreover banging/self-beating (47%), scratching (38), pinching (35%), picking scabs (33%), self-biting (32%), pulling hair (30%) and rubbing skin (19%) emerged as common forms of challenging behavior. Further regression analysis showed that age B(1.68*, P<.05), gender B(3.72, P<.001) and severity level of ASD B(1.85***, p<.0001) as risk factors/positive predictors of NSSI. However early intervention (-0.66***, P<.0001) and involvement of parents in counselling (-2.66*, P<.05) emerged as protective factors/negative predictors of NSSI among children with ASD.Conclusion:Non-suicidal self-injury is a serious challenge among children with ASD. Early intervention, counselling and parental involvement in managing the children with ASD will not only prevent but reduce the challenging behaviors.

The Prevalence of Self-injurious Behaviour in Autism: A Meta-analytic Study

“…Only two studies reported prevalence of self-injury across different levels of autism. These studies found that severity of autism is associated with a higher prevalence of self-injury, and moreover, that severity of self-injurious behaviour is associated with more severe autism (Akram et al 2017 ; Folch et al 2018 ).…”

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among Incarcerated Adolescents: Prevalence, Personality, and Psychiatric Comorbidity

“…Associations between self-injury and mental health problems are common and the vast majority of adolescents who engage in NSSI also have some degree of comorbidity, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ( 17 , 18 ), with generally higher levels of traumatic exposure ( 19 , 20 ), depressive disorders ( 21 ), obsessive-compulsive disorder ( 18 ), anxiety ( 22 ), symptoms of borderline personality disorder ( 23 , 24 ), specific phobia ( 21 ), autism ( 25 ), intellectual disability ( 26 ), schizophrenia ( 27 ), and eating disorders ( 28 ). A strong association has also been noted between NSSI and externalizing problems where conduct disorder (CD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are most common ( 29 , 30 ).…”

Assessment of medical morbidities in a rhesus monkey model of naturally occurring low sociality

“…These include gastrointestinal disorders (Buie et al, 2010;Cawthorpe, 2017;Chandler et al, 2013;Gorrindo et al, 2012;Hand et al, 2020;Mazurek et al, 2013;Neuhaus et al, 2018;Restrepo et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2011;Wasilewska & Klukowski, 2015), inflammatory dyscrasias (Cawthorpe, 2017), as well as a variety of other conditions, such as cardiac disease (Hand et al, 2020), congenital anomalies (Cawthorpe, 2017;Timonen-Soivio et al, 2015), and seizures/epilepsy (Hand et al, 2020;Isaksen et al, 2013;Lewine et al, 1999;Muñoz-Yunta et al, 2008;Parmeggiani et al, 2010;Viscidi et al, 2013). Furthermore, people with ASD have been shown to be at increased risk for unintentional injury (Cavalari & Romanczyk, 2012;Lee et al, 2008;McDermott et al, 2008), self-injurious behavior (SIB) (Akram et al, 2017;Hand et al, 2020;McDermott et al, 2008;Rattaz et al, 2015;Siegel et al, 2015;Slingsby et al, 2017;Summers et al, 2017), physical abuse (Duan et al, 2015;Mandell et al, 2005;Slingsby et al, 2017), violent crime (Christoffersen, 2019), and/or peer bullying (Hoover & Kaufman, 2018;Hwang et al, 2018;Sterzing et al, 2012). People with ASD also suffer greater injuryrelated mortality compared to the g...…”