title: Toward a functional analysis of self-injury.
abstract: This study describes the use of an operant methodology to assess functional relationships between self-injury and specific environmental events. The self-injurious behaviors of nine developmentally disabled subjects were observed during periods of brief, repeated exposure to a series of analogue conditions. Each condition differed along one or more of the following dimensions: (1) play materials (present vs absent), (2) experimenter demands (high vs low), and (3) social attention (absent vs noncontingent vs contingent). Results showed a great deal of both between and within-subject variability. However, in six of the nine subjects, higher levels of self-injury were consistently associated with a specific stimulus condition, suggesting that within-subject variability was a function of distinct features of the social and/or physical environment. These data are discussed in light of previously suggested hypotheses for the motivation of self-injury, with particular emphasis on their implications for the selection of suitable treatments.
authors.affiliation: John F. Kennedy Institute.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Dorsey
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Slifer
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Richman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis