SynthesisJournal of autism and developmental disorders2020
The Prevalence of Self-injurious Behaviour in Autism: A Meta-analytic Study.
Synthesis in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 137 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adverse outcomes for autistic people: an umbrella review of mental health, physical health, social and lifestyle domains.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of suicidality in autistic and possibly autistic people without co-occurring intellectual disability.Molecular autism · 2023Pooled it
- Mortality in Persons With Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA pediatrics · 2022Pooled it
- Risk of Self-harm in Children and Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA network open · 2021Pooled it
- Electroconvulsive Therapy for Catatonia in Autistic and Non-Autistic Patients: An Observational Study on Course, Efficacy, Aggression, and Self-Injury Outcomes.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
- Teaching Practitioners to Use the Bristol Stool Form Scale.Behavior analysis in practice · 2026Article
- Are School-Aged Children Who Self-Identify as Neurodivergent at Greater Risk of Substance Misuse? A Study of 20 000 Secondary School Students.Child: care, health and development · 2026Article
- Nursing Perspectives on Factors That Influence Provision of Patient-Centered Care for Autistic Patients in a Large Urban Hospital System: A Qualitative Study.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- Wearable Technology to Measure the Occurrence of Self-Injury During a Functional Analysis.Behavior modification · 2026Article
- The Aberrant Behavior Checklist in a Clinical Sample of Autistic Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Co-Occurring Mental Health Problems: Psychometric Properties, Factor Structure, and Longitudinal Measurement Invariance.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Feasibility of forecasting self-injurious behavior among autistic youth using wearable sensors and machine learning models.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Integrating Dimensional Personality and Autistic Traits to Predict Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempts, and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
- Defining Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Autistic People: A Framework for Assessment Using Key Elements to Aid in Characterization.Autism in adulthood · 2026Article
- Child and Family Characteristics as Predictors of the Severity of Self-injurious Behaviours in Autistic Children and Adolescents.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- "They are hard to navigate" exploring healthcare providers experiences managing Self-Injurious Behaviors among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Uganda.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Modified electroconvulsive therapy for treatment-resistant self-injurious behavior in autism spectrum disorder with severe intellectual disability: a case report.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Integration of specialized residential interventions with community-based services for autistic adults with severe challenging behaviors: preliminary evidence from the Piedmont model.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Unmasking social functions: Outcomes from a retrospective consecutive case series of 19 applications.Journal of applied behavior analysis · 2026Article
- Treatment of Challenging Behaviour in Children and Youth With an Intellectual Disability With or Without Autism.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID · 2026Article
6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Self-injurious behaviour is purportedly common in autism, but prevalence rates have not yet been synthesised meta-analytically. In the present study, data from 14,379 participants in thirty-seven papers were analysed to generate a pooled prevalence estimate of self-injury in autism of 42% (confidence intervals 0.38-0.47). Hand-hitting topography was the most common form of self-injury (23%), self-cutting topography the least common (3%). Sub-group analyses revealed no association between study quality, participant intellectual disability or age and overall prevalence rate of self-injury. However, females obtained higher prevalence rates than males (p = .013) and hair pulling and self-scratching were associated with intellectual disability (p = .008 and p = .002, respectively). The results confirm very high rates of self-injury in autism and highlight within group risk-markers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.