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Self-Injurious Behavior: Overview and Behavioral Interventions

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International Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Part of the book series: Autism and Child Psychopathology Series ((ACPS))

Abstract

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a serious problem for some people with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) which is a common focus of clinical treatment and has received extensive attention in the research literature. This is the first of two related chapters. The first provides an overview of SIB and behavioral approaches to its treatment. The second reviews pharmacological approaches to treatment of SIB and then work which attempts to integrate behavioral and pharmacological treatments. Although other approaches to treatment of SIB, such as psychotherapy, counseling, and sensory approaches, may be used in practice, there is little research evidence to review on their efficacy in people with ASDs. Additionally, single-case experiments suggest that reported effects of interventions such as sensory integration with particular individuals may be more parsimoniously explained by the social interaction or reduction in task demands associated with the therapy and that function-based behavioral interventions are equally or more effective in reducing SIB (Devlin, Leader, & Healey, 2009; Mason & Iwata, 1990). Hence, these two chapters focus on behavioral and pharmacological interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7LT, UK

    Frederick Furniss

  2. Leicester Frith Hospital, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, LE3 9QF, UK

    Asit B. Biswas

  3. The Hesley Group, Doncaster, DN11 9HH, UK

    Bradley Bezilla

  4. Quality Behavioral Solutions, Inc., Holliston, Massachusetts, 01746, USA

    Aaron A. Jones

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  1. Frederick Furniss
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Correspondence to Frederick Furniss .

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  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 70803, Louisiana, USA

    Johnny L. Matson

  2. City University of New York, Department of Psychology, Queens College, Flushing, 11367, New York, USA

    Peter Sturmey

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Furniss, F., Biswas, A.B., Bezilla, B., Jones, A.A. (2011). Self-Injurious Behavior: Overview and Behavioral Interventions. In: Matson, J., Sturmey, P. (eds) International Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8065-6_27

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