Children with autism frequently display self-injurious behavior (SIB), but skin picking--a less severe topography of SIB--has not been the focus of much clinical research. The present study evaluated a home-based intervention that was implemented with a 9-year-old girl who had autism and picked her fingers with resulting tissue damage. The…

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) that occurs at high rates across all conditions of a functional analysis can suggest automatic or multiple functions. In the current study, we conducted a functional analysis for 1 individual with SIB. Results indicated that SIB was, at least in part, maintained by automatic reinforcement. Further analyses using…

The current exploratory study examined the ability of three stimulus preference assessments to identify effective reinforcers for general education students. Four students from Grades K through 5 and their teachers participated. A student nomination, teacher nomination, and ongoing (daily) stimulus preference assessment were evaluated. The results…

The present study describes a case of a 9-year-old girl diagnosed on the autism spectrum who averaged nearly 1200 hand-to-head self-injuries (+attempts) per school day. Given the resources of the school and the significance of the self-injurious behavior (SIB), analog functional analysis is not possible. Moreover, functional assessment results…

Background: Research to date suggests that as many as 12-15% of young people engage in self-harm behaviour; however, the current understanding of the psychological basis of adolescent self-harm is limited. The objective was to determine whether adolescents who self-harm are a psychologically homogenous group. It was hypothesised that psychological…

The current study investigates the comparative effects of sensory-integration therapy and behavioral interventions on rates of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in a 9-year-old boy with diagnosis of autism. A functional analysis was conducted to identify the variables maintaining the self-injurious behavior. This analysis demonstrated that SIB was…

The current study evaluated risk factors for the occurrence, frequency and severity of challenging behavior among a sample of individuals with a diagnosis of autism, under the age of eighteen, in Ireland. Age, gender, hours of intervention received, age at diagnosis, presence of challenging behavior at diagnosis and treatment type at diagnosis…

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a prevalent behaviour among youth. School is an opportune setting for intervention with this population, but it is unknown how many youth who engage in NSSI would be willing to access school-based support. The current study surveyed 7,126 middle and high school students. Those that indicated that they engaged in…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from numerous social and communicative deficits that create difficulties when interacting with their peers, adults, and their social community. An increased prevalence of problem behaviors has also been found in children with ASD, and it is likely that such problem behaviors interfere with the…

Single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) provide a time- and cost-effective alternative to randomized clinical trials and offer significant advantages in terms of internal and external validity. A brief history and primer on SCEDs is provided, specifically for use in suicide intervention research. Various SCED methodologies, such as AB, ABAB,…

Students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulties with verbal language. Many interventions to remediate such deficits require numerous materials and significant teacher time. This study sought to determine if a simple multi-component intervention that incorporated noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) and verbal modeling would result in…

Self-injury (SI) is defined as the act of deliberately destroying one's own body tissue without suicidal intent in a way that is not widely socially acceptable and is not as a result of mental retardation, autism, or other developmental delays. The review of the self-injury literature focused on the definition, prevalence, and other basic aspects…

Objective: At present, the most frequently investigated psychosocial intervention for borderline personality disorder (BPD) is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the efficacy and long-term effectiveness of DBT. Method: Systematic bibliographic research was undertaken to find relevant literature from online…

This volume includes four sections of the 2020 NORDSCI international conference proceedings: (1) Education and Educational Research; (2) Language and Linguistics; (3) Philosophy; and (4) Sociology and Healthcare. Education and Educational Research includes 15 papers covering the full spectrum of education, including history, sociology and economy…

Background: Research into self-harm among people with intellectual disabilities has focused predominantly on high frequency internally maladaptive behaviour among people whose disability is severe or profound. Research into different forms of self-harm, such as cutting or burning the skin, found in those with mild intellectual disabilities;…