Background: Emotional distress has received less attention as an explanatory factor for self-injury in people with intellectual disabilities, with research and practice primarily focusing on biobehavioural factors. This systematic review examines the self-reported explanations for self-injury by people with mild or moderate intellectual…

Challenging behaviors are prevalent among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In this review, we used the What Works Clearinghouse Standards (WWC) to evaluate the quality of 84 studies that aimed to treat the challenging behaviors of adults with IDD, ages 22 years and older, using a function-based intervention. Then, we…

Restricted or repetitive behavior (RRB) is common for individuals with visual impairment (VI), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability. Previous reviews have suggested that VI may moderate the effectiveness of behavioral interventions to decrease RRB. A search of the single case literature resulted in 30 studies and 40…

Prevalence studies of challenging behaviors among children with disabilities have a potential value, as they provide information for intervention and evaluation. However, the results from these studies seem to vary according to the population involved, the behaviors explored and the selected methodological procedures and instruments used. The…

Background: Epilepsy and challenging behaviour are both highly prevalent in the intellectual disability (ID) population and it is thus crucial to understand any possible associations between the two. Method: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science were searched for quantitative data about epilepsy and any forms of challenging…

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder are thought to be more vulnerable to oral diseases than typically developing individuals due to cariogenic dietary habits, self-injurious behaviors, and increased barriers to dental care services. This review aimed to summarize current evidence comparing the oral health status of people…

Richman et al. ("J Appl Behav Anal" 48:131-152, 2015) completed a meta-analytic analysis of single-case experimental design data on noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) for the treatment of problem behavior exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. Results showed that (1) NCR produced very large effect sizes for reduction in…

Objectives: Current research suggests that effective psychotherapies for Self Injurious Behavior (SIB) in the context of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) contain generic common elements which are responsible for their success. Because of the links between BPD, SIB, and child abuse, it is likely that these common elements can also be applied…

Over several years, there has been much debate about the best way to manage challenging behaviour. Although national guidance highlights the importance of meaningful occupation, it is unclear to what extent this helps. This systematic review of the literature aimed to answer the question, "does engagement in meaningful occupation reduce…

This article presents a sociologically informed critique of a range of academic literatures relating to self-injury. It is noted how a lack of consensus on definitional issues, together with the inaccurate portrayal of the "typical self-injurer" in the clinical literature, has impeded the development of a sound understanding of self-injury. Some…

One-hundred seventy-three studies that employed functional assessment were evaluated with respect to types of challenging behaviors studied and the functions identified that maintained those behaviors. For most studies, two to three behaviors were targeted. Of the 38 different challenging behaviors identified, self-injurious behavior (SIB) and…

Background: Challenging behaviour is a major problem among people with intellectual disabilities. Physical factors may be an important cause. The aim of the present systematic review was to determine the physical conditions associated with challenging behaviour. Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed and the Cochrane systematic…

There is little literature on childhood sexual abuse in women seen by forensic services. A cohort of 225 cases of women seen by forensic services in a medium secure unit in the UK were examined, and childhood sexual abuse and non-childhood sexual abuse cases were compared. Over half the sample had a history of childhood sexual abuse, and 5.6% of…

This article reports the findings of a literature review of research that has explored the support experiences of family carers of a person with an intellectual disability who displays challenging behaviour and/or has a mental health problem. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the reported experiences of family carers from…

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a behavior that is prevalent among children and adolescents. Although NSSI is often associated with borderline personality disorder and depression, it co-occurs with numerous psychiatric symptoms and associated diagnoses. The current article reviews the research addressing psychiatric symptoms that are commonly…