Interpersonal Antecedents of Self-Injurious Behavior in Retarded Children

Abstract

The present study examined interpersonal antecedents for self-injurious behavior of retarded individuals. Subjects included eight children living in a residential state facility. Naive observers coded self-injurious behavior and five interpersonal behaviors for 120 minutes in each of four settings (lunchroom, outside, classroom, dormitory). Initial analyses indicated no systematic differences in self-injurious behavior or antecedents across settings. Therefore, data for antecedent events were collapsed across settings. The total percent of each interpersonal behavior and the percent of behaviors prior to self-injurious behavior were tabulated. Analyses comparing these two percents indicated that, relative to total occurrence, self-injurious behavior occurred significantly less following positive interpersonal antecedents and more following the absence of interpersonal antecedents. Implications of the results are discussed.