Early development of self-injurious behavior: An empirical study

The early development of SIE in young children with developmental disabilities was examined by tracking over an 18-month period 16 school-age children who had recently started to show early SIE. Naturalistic observations were conducted in each child's classroom every 3 months, and the association between early SIE and environmental events was examined. Results showed that for the 4 children whose early SIE had escalated over this period, there was a significant association between early SIE and low levels of social contact across observation points, supporting: models of the development of SIE. This association might be considered as a risk marker for the exacerbation of SIE. Implications of this finding for targeting early interventions for SIE are discussed.