Correlates of self-injurious, aggressive and destructive behaviour in children under five who are at risk of developmental delay.
Overactive, repetitive toddlers with health issues are the ones most likely to hurt themselves or wreck the room.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parents of 56 toddlers with developmental delay filled out a survey. They answered questions about self-injury, aggression, and destruction.
The team looked for child traits that predicted the worst behaviors.
What they found
Half of the kids showed self-injury or destruction; almost two-thirds showed aggression.
Overactive and impulsive toddlers were the ones who later broke toys and furniture.
Repetitive movements and health problems hinted at the most serious self-hitting or head-banging.
How this fits with other research
Oliver et al. (2012) saw the same red flag: repetitive acts raised the risk of severe self-injury 16 times in older kids with intellectual disability.
Richards et al. (2017) later repeated the link in autism: overactivity plus pain from health issues forecast bad self-injury. The toddler signal looks the same across diagnoses.
Diemer et al. (2023) add a twist: harsh commands from parents also feed behavior problems. Child markers matter, but how we respond counts too.
Why it matters
You can spot the highest-risk toddlers before problem behavior peaks. Watch for constant overactivity, repeated rocking or spinning, and reports of pain or illness. Flag these kids for early functional assessment and medical review. Brief caregiver coaching on calm commands (see C et al., 2023) can pair with skill-building for the child. Acting early may prevent the severe self-injury that Chris et al. saw explode in later years.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AIM: Several behavioural correlates of self-injury, aggression and destructive behaviour have been identified in children and young adults with intellectual disabilities. This cross-sectional study aimed to further explore these correlates in very young children with developmental delay. METHODS: Parents of 56 children (40 male) under the age of five years (mean age 2 years 10 months) completed a questionnaire about their child's behaviour and the presence of behavioural correlates, including repetitive, over-active or impulsive behaviour and more severe developmental delay. RESULTS: Parents reported very high prevalence of self-injurious, aggressive and destructive behaviour: 51%, 64% and 51%, respectively. A binary logistic regression revealed that a higher score on a measure of overactive and impulsive behaviour significantly predicted the presence of destructive behaviour. A multiple linear regression revealed that both repetitive behaviour and number of health problems approached significance as independent predictors of severe self-injurious behaviour. INTERPRETATION: Despite the very small sample, several factors emerged as potential predictors of self-injurious, aggressive and destructive behaviour. These findings support the need for further investigation in a larger sample. Confirmation in this age group could help guide the development of targeted early intervention for these behaviours by identifying behavioural risk markers.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.10.019