Comparative analysis of self-injurious behaviour topographies in young children with and without developmental delay.
Young children with developmental delay show more varied and severe self-injury than typical peers—catch it early.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Granieri et al. (2020) watched how young children hurt themselves.
They compared kids with developmental delay to typically developing peers.
The team counted how often, how bad, and how many kinds of self-injury each child showed.
What they found
Children with delay showed more self-hitting, more biting, and more head-banging.
They also mixed several types of self-injury in the same day.
The injuries were deeper and happened more often than in typical kids.
How this fits with other research
Schlundt et al. (1999) first warned that teacher worry, not test scores, predicts later bad self-injury.
Granieri et al. (2020) now show the damage is already worse by preschool, so early screen is urgent.
Rooker et al. (2020) add that the worst injuries cluster with automatic, sensory-driven self-injury—match their map when you plan treatment.
Duerden et al. (2012) found sensory quirks and need for sameness raise risk in autism; pair those screens with E’s topography count for a full picture.
Why it matters
If you serve toddlers or preschoolers with delay, add a quick self-injury checklist to your intake.
Look for multiple topographies early; they signal higher risk.
Share the list with parents and pediatricians so everyone watches the same behaviors and starts safety plans sooner.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The present study presents post hoc analyses of specific topographies of self-injurious behaviour (SIB) exhibited by young children with developmental delay (DD) and children with typical development (TD). We conducted these analyses to better understand similarities and differences between the groups from a developmental perspective. No previous study has compared the prevalence, severity and co-occurrence of specific topographies of SIB in young children. METHOD: The participants were parents of two groups of children one with DD (n = 49, mean age = 37.5 months) and one with TD (n = 49, mean age = 36.6 months). Individual items of the SIB subscale from the Repetitive Behaviour Scale-Revised were used in the analyses. RESULTS: Seven of the eight Repetitive Behaviour Scale-Revised SIB categories were reported for both groups. Children in the DD group were significantly more likely to engage in Hits Self against Surface or Object, Hits Self with Body Part, Inserts Finger or Object, Skin Picking and Bites Self. Parental ratings of severity were also significantly greater for the DD group for these five topographies. The DD group engaged in a significantly greater number of SIB topographies than the children in the TD group. Children in the TD group were more likely to exhibit a single SIB topography while the DD group were more likely to engage in two or more topographies. Topographies involving self-hitting were not only more frequent among the children in the DD group but also more likely to be rated as moderate or severe in nature. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the TD group, the topographies of SIB exhibited by the DD group were more prevalent, more severe and co-occurred with greater frequency. Inclusion of a group of children with TD provided an important comparative context for the occurrence of SIB in children with DD.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12758