The relationship of self-injurious behavior and other maladaptive behaviors among individuals with severe and profound intellectual disability

Participants were 101 individuals with self-injurious behavior (SIB) and severe or profound intellectual disability who were matched by gender, age, and level of intellectual disability to controls. Persons with SIB were more likely to exhibit the challenging behaviors of physical aggression, property destruction, sexually inappropriate behaviors and stereotypies when compared to controls, suggestive of co-occurring behaviors. Moreover, the maladaptive behavior of irritability, as assessed by the aberrant behavior checklist (ABC) was able to correctly classify 72.8% of the sample into their respective group memberships. Implications of these findings are discussed.