Temporal patterns of self-injurious behavior correlate with stress hormone levels in the developmentally disabled.
While the origins and developmental course of self-injurious behavior (SIB) remain relatively unknown, recent studies suggest a biological imbalance may potentiate or provoke the contagious recurrence of SIB patterns in individuals with severe developmental disabilities (DD). Evidence from several laboratories indicates that functioning, relations, and processing of a stress-related molecule, proopiomelanocortin (POMC) may be perturbed among certain subgroups of individuals exhibiting SIB. The current investigation employed a unique time-pattern analysis program (THEME) to examine whether recurrent temporal patterns (T-patterns) of SIB were related to morning levels of two POMC-derived hormones: beta-endorphin (betaE) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). THEME was used to quantify highly significant (non-random) T-patterns that included SIB within a dataset of in situ observational recordings spanning 8 days ( approximately 40 h) in 25 subjects with DD. Pearson's product-moment analyses revealed highly significant correlations between the percentage of T-patterns containing SIB and basal levels of both betaE and ACTH, which were not found with any other "control" T-patterns. These findings support the hypothesis that the recurrent temporal patterning of SIB represents a unique behavioral phenotype directly related to perturbed levels of POMC-derived stress hormones in certain individuals with severe DD.
Kemp
Aaron S
AS
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. akemp@uci.edu
Fillmore
Paul T
PT
Lenjavi
Mohammed R
MR
Lyon
Melvin
M
Chicz-Demet
Aleksandra
A
Touchette
Paul E
PE
Sandman
Curt A
CA
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000097:blood*; D012008:Recurrence; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001615:beta-Endorphin / Q000097:blood*
D001615:beta-Endorphin; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone