Citation

Steenfeldt-Kristensen C, Jones CA, Richards C. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. c.r.richards@bham.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10803-020-04443-1

PMID

32297123

Abstract

Self-injurious behaviour is purportedly common in autism, but prevalence rates have not yet been synthesised meta-analytically. In the present study, data from 14,379 participants in thirty-seven papers were analysed to generate a pooled prevalence estimate of self-injury in autism of 42% (confidence intervals 0.38-0.47). Hand-hitting topography was the most common form of self-injury (23%), self-cutting topography the least common (3%). Sub-group analyses revealed no association between study quality, participant intellectual disability or age and overall prevalence rate of self-injury. However, females obtained higher prevalence rates than males (p = .013) and hair pulling and self-scratching were associated with intellectual disability (p = .008 and p = .002, respectively). The results confirm very high rates of self-injury in autism and highlight within group risk-markers.

Language: en

Keywords

Autism; Intellectual disability; Prevalence; Self-harm; Self-injurious behaviour