SAFE-AID: Self-injury and Aggression Functional Evaluation for People with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities

We are designing a measure that assesses the frequency, severity, and function of aggressive and self-injurious behaviour through observer-reports. We are currently at the recruitment stage which involves individuals completing our survey package which includes our own measure and two additional measures for validation. We hope to establish internal consistency of our scales and establish some evidence of validity before we make this measure available for public use.

Parents, caregivers, care workers, school staff, and therapists of individuals with a diagnosis of autism or other developmental disabilities who exhibit some form of aggressive or self-injurious behaviour.

Participants will follow our link which will direct them to our consent form. After signing these documents they will be asked for some information about themselves and the person they are rating. We will not be collecting names or contact information to ensure all data in anonymous. After filling out this information, participants will complete our measure which asks about the presence, frequency, severity, and function of common aggressive and self-injurious behaviours. After completing our measure, participants will complete the aggression and self-injury scales of the Behavior Problems Inventory – Short Form and the Motivational Assessment Scale. This takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Self-injury and aggression are two very debilitating behaviours that are often observed in individuals with severe developmental disabilities such as profound autism or intellectual disability. While some previous tools have been developed to assess the frequency/severity and function of different behaviours, our tool is the first to accomplish both within the same measure. This can be useful in clinical settings when screening for potentially difficult behaviours and learning about the circumstances in which they occur before moving onto a more thorough in-person functional analysis. This can also be useful for research, where assessment of aggression and self-injury as well as their function can be used to screen for eligible participants and better equip researchers working with these individuals when these behaviours do arise. This can benefit the autism community with further knowledge of these behaviours and assisting in their treatment.