DBT-Based Parenting Intervention for Self-Injurious Behavior

The risk of self-injurious behavior is increased by a number of environmental, biological, medical and psychological factors, with the most important being depression. Self-injurious behavior may be used as a marker of distress, pain, or a lack of competence. It is important to identify which factors may increase risk of self-injury in particular cases.

There is a high prevalence of self-injurious behavior among children in the United States. These data provide key clinical data regarding the need in the United States for research to develop, test, and then disseminate research interventions to decrease the prevalence of self-injurious behavior within children.

This [case study] suggests that self-injurious behavior may not have an underlying neurobiological basis, and there is no definitive evidence of its curability. Instead, it may be treated in a functional and systemic perspective.

Self-injurious behavior of children and adults can lead to severe medical problems. The diagnostic presentation of self-injurious in these young patients varies. The identification of the signs and symptoms of self-injurious behavior is important not only for the prevention of the self-injurious behavior, but also for the adequate management of the patient and their family. Awareness of these signs can aid in the early detection and treatment of the symptom, thereby avoiding severe medical problems.

Treatments involving direct behavioral training seem to be as effective as medications. Given the risk of side effects of medication use, pharmacotherapy may not be the most effective treatment when other behavioral techniques and parent-education are available. These strategies have also been shown to reduce the level of aggressive behavior in these patients. The authors suggest that such strategies be reconsidered to improve the effectiveness of treatment.

Findings from a recent study provide support for the theory that self-injurious behavior is a learned response pattern, and can be altered through experience-dependent learning.

The use of DBT as an adjunct to treatment of problematic behaviors in children may be beneficial, and may lead to effective treatment of challenging behaviors associated with DBT's parent-directed focus on skill acquisition and mindful awareness. The utility of DBT for the treatment of such problematic behaviors should be further evaluated.

Despite the lack of a control, the improvement in child care and communication associated with the Dbt-based parenting intervention appears to be maintained three months after the intervention.

Parents with severe behavior problems are more likely to participate in dbt-based parenting parenting intervention than parents with mild or moderate behavior problems. Parent-reported child behavior and caregiver mental health are significant predictors of intervention enrollment.

The evidence reviewed confirms the important impact of self-injury on an individual's functioning in terms of physical, psychosocial, and educational contexts. Although self-injurious behavior is very diverse, interventions have been found to positively influence students with a range of different severities of self-injury as well as different types of disruptive behaviors. The evidence from the review also supports the use of behavior modification and skill-building as therapeutic approaches for treating self-injurious behavior in the educational context that involves school personnel who are knowledgeable, knowledgeable and supported about self-injurious behavior and the importance of early intervention for these students.