Self-injury and stereotyped behavior in young children with and without developmental delay

Abstract

The stereotyped and self-injurious behavior (SIB) of individuals with intellectual disabilities and related developmental disabilities (I/DD) pose serious challenges that may cause severe physical damage or interfere with daily living activities. Although there has been work describing stereotypy and SIB in young children with I/DD, there is almost no direct comparative data between children with I/DD and typically developing children. The purpose of this study was to compare self-injury (SIB) and stereotyped behavior (STY) across approximate age and gender matched samples of young children (< 5 years of age) with and without developmental delay. The Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R) was completed by parents/caregiver of n=49 children with developmental delays and n=52 typically developing children. Differences in frequency and severity ratings for SIB and stereotypy were tested between the two groups (developmental delay [DD], typically developing [TYP]) based on the RBS-R scores. Additional analysis was performed to test whether groups differed by age cohort or sex. SIB was reported for 60% of the DD sample and 26% of the TYP sample. STY was reported for 87% of the DD sample and 39% of the TYP sample. Using ANOVA, there was a significant main effect for SIB between samples (DD>TYP), F (1, 100) =51.40, p = .000, &#627;² = .15. This sample showed clear differences between young children with developmental delays and their typically developing peers in the reported presence of self injury and stereotyped behavior. Going forward, the findings from this study provide among the first comparative estimates of stereotypy and SIB between age and gender matched children with and without developmental delay.