Self Injurious Behaviour (SIB)

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SIB refers to a class of behaviors which the individual inflicts upon his/herself that have the potential to result in physical injury, more specifically tissue damage. SIB may manifest in numerous ways, including but not limited to head banging, self-cutting, self-choking, self-biting, self-scratching, hair yanking, and hand mouthing^[1].

In children with Autistic Spectrum Disrder, SIB tends to be classified as “stereotyped SIB” as opposed to the “impulsive SIB” that is habitual in nature as seen in serious psychiatric illness or even in typically developing adolescents and adults.

Lifetime prevalence of 50% in children with ASD
The most common forms of SIB in those with ASD are self-biting, self-scratching, skin picking or pinching, self-punching, and head banging; less common but still occurring types of SIB in persons with ASD include eye pressing or gouging, pulling one’s own hair, teeth, or fingernails, dislocation of joints (eg, fingers, periorbital area, mandible), pica, and knee-to-head hitting^[2].

1. ^a Iwata BA, Pace GM, Dorsey MF, Zarcone JR, Vollmer TR, Smith RG, Rodgers TA, Lerman DC, Shore BA, Mazalesk JL. The functions of self-injurious behavior: an experimental-epidemiological analysis. J Appl Behav Anal. 1994 Summer;27(2):215-40. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-215.
[PMID: 8063623] [PMCID: 1297800] [DOI: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-215]

2. ^a Rojahn J, Schroeder SR, Hoch TA. Self-Injurious Behavior in Intellectual Disabilities. New York: Elsevier; 2008