SELF-INJURIOUS-BEHAVIOR WITHIN THE MENSTRUAL-CYCLE OF WOMEN WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION

There are no reports of an association between the menstrual cycle and self-injurious behavior (SIB) in the mentally retarded population, Ho wever, the endogenous opiate system has been implicated in both menstr ual cycling and SIB. Catamenial and behavioral records of 9 women with mental retardation who exhibited SIB were analyzed for 6 months to de termine the association between phases of the menstrual cycle and rate s of SIB. Menstrual cycles were divided into four phases. (a) menses a nd early follicular phase, (b) late follicular phase, (c) early luteal phase, and (d) late luteal or premenstrual phase. Analysis showed tha t the highest frequency of SIB occurred in the first two phases. 43.5% during early follicular phase and 4 7.3% in the late follicular phase . Pairwise t and binomial expansion tests confirmed that SIB was cycli c across the menstrual cycle with Phase 1 > Phase 3, Phase 1 > Phase 4 , Phase 2 > Phase 3, and Phase 2 > Phase 4. Seven of the 9 women were cyclers and manifested identical phase/SIB relations. The cyclical cha racter of SIB may relate to changing peripheral and central endorphin and pain threshold during the cycle.