Intervenciones cognitivo-conductuales para reducir conductas autolesivas en niños y jóvenes con TEA: Una revisión sistemática

Cognitive-behavioural interventions to decrease self-injurious behaviours in children and young people with ASD: A Systematic Review. Self-injurious behaviours in children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) imply risks to their physical integrity and affect their quality of life and that of their families. In addition, they hinder their integration into the school and social environments, this being limited by the characteristics of this type of disorder. Although there is little information about self-harm in this population, in general it has been seen that the greater the affectation and the lower the cognitive level, the more prevalent self-injurious behaviours are. The aim of this study was to review the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral interventions for the reduction of self-injurious behaviors in children and youth with ASD. For it, we searched PsycINFO, Scopus and Google Scholar. The review included studies in English or Spanish languages on cognitive-behavioral interventions to reduce self-injurious behaviors in children and youth with ASD; with samples consisting of individuals with ASD between 1 and 30 years of age presenting self-injurious behaviors; and conducted between 1970 and 2022. Of the 228 studies identified, only 7 met the inclusion criteria. The included studies included participants between the ages of 3 and 26 years diagnosed with ASD and were published between 1974 and 2015, evidencing the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral interventions. Although these studies show positive post-intervention results, they are scarce in number. Further research is therefore needed on the effectiveness of behavioural and cognitive interventions to reduce self-injurious behaviours in children and young people with ASD