The Relationship between Pain, Self-Injury, and Other Problem Behaviors in Young Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

Research has suggested that individuals who engage in self-injurious behavior may have enhanced expressions of pain, which contradicts previous assertions of blunted pain sensitivity in this population. The purpose of this study was to measure expressions of pain among young children being evaluated for autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. The frequency of pain-related behaviors was assessed during everyday routines using the Non-Communicating Children's Pain Checklist (NCCPC-R) for 51 children. Significant group differences between children with and without self-injury were found for the NCCPC-R total scores. The frequency and severity of self-injury, aggression, and stereotypy were also highly correlated with the total scores on the NCCPC-R. These results continue to support that individuals with self-injury may have enhanced expressions of pain.