Self-harm in children and adolescents with Autism. A nursing vision from an integrative review of the literature.
Abstract:
Background: Autism belongs to a group of disorders that affect neurodevelopment called Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) characterized mainly by presenting alterations in behavior, interests, communication and social interaction. Its development begins from the stage of childhood and persists throughout life. Worldwide, we find that 1% of the population suffers from this disorder, being more frequent in males than in females, in a 4:1 ratio. Children with ASD present great difficulties in adapting to the environment due to their great mental rigidity and poor social skills; but also due to the number of challenging behaviors they present. Specifically, children and adolescents with autism are more vulnerable than other groups to manifest self-injurious behaviors.
Methodology: A review of the literature was carried out. We searched 4 academic databases, which identified 7 relevant studies. McMaster University has been used as a Checklist of the articles used for the bibliographic review.
Results: Three themes were identified: the risk factors associated with self-injurious behaviors in autism, the interventions carried out by the different health professionals and the nursing contribution in this field.
Conclusions: Self-harm in autistic patients should be interpreted as an inadequate coping strategy to manage a series of stimuli and feelings. If the person with autism cannot communicate it, the nurse has a key role, due to her continuous observation capacity, in identifying the reasons for self-harm in order to generate, propose and facilitate other less harmful and more adaptive skills.
Relevance to clinical practice: Nurses have a clear role in the prevention, recording, and management of self-injurious behaviors in children and adolescents with autism. More clarity is required on how nurses should play this role in their work settings.
