SELF-RESTRAINT AND SELF-INJURY - OCCURRENCE AND MOTIVATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE

The occurrence of self-restraint was examined in a sample of 99 adults with severe or profound mental retardation who exhibited self-injury. Results showed that 46% of the sample exhibited self-restraint. A sig nificantly higher occurrence of compulsive behaviors was found for sub jects who engaged in self-injury and self-restraint when compared to s elf-injury subjects without self-restraint. To determine the motivatio nal significance of self-restraint, we assessed the response to brief interruption of this behavior. Subjects who engaged in self-restraint responded more negatively to response interruption than did control su bjects. These preliminary findings support the hypothesis that self-in jury may be related to a compulsive behavior disorder in some individu als who self-restrain.