Self-injurious behaviors in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a challenging behavior in autism, and some issues about this theme is still unclear, mainly in children and adolescents without intellectual disability. According to the behavioral analysis theoretical model, SIB can fulfill different roles. We conducted a systematic review in order to investigate the prevalence rates and risk factors according to the classification framework based on functional SIB analysis in this group of patients. MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched, and 14 papers fulfilled the criteria for further investigation, which corresponds to 7649 non-intellectually-impaired autistic individuals (82.3% males). The prevalence rates of SIB in the sample ranged between 10.1–70.5%; Besides, some variables, such as sociodemographic characteristics and ASD severity, were analyzed as risk factors according to age and type of SIB described in studies. We discuss our findings based on a novel classification model to contribute to the gaps in understanding this complex phenomenon.