03-09-2020 | Editorial
Advancing Our Understanding of Self-harm, Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviours in Autism
Auteurs:
Sarah A. Cassidy, Ashley Robertson, Ellen Townsend, Rory C. O’Connor, Jacqui Rodgers
Gepubliceerd in:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
|
Uitgave 10/2020
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Excerpt
Until recently, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviours have not received extensive attention in autism research (Cassidy
2020; Cassidy and Rodgers
2017). The extant research evidence indicates high rates of self-harm in autistic people, but this work has primarily focused on self-harm in the context of challenging and/or repetitive behaviour associated with intellectual disability (Minshawi et al.
2014). Although extremely important work, this research does not explore whether autistic people who self-harm also experience intent to end one’s life, or whether self-harm increases risk of subsequent suicidal behaviours (as in the general population; Rebeiro et al.
2016). More recent research has explored self-harm and suicidality, as defined in the general population, in autistic people. Early work showed that 66% of adults recently diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome had contemplated suicide in their lifetime, and 35% had planned or attempted suicide (Cassidy et al.
2014). Autistic adults are also significantly more likely to experience non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) compared to the general population, and NSSI is associated with increased risk of suicidality in this group (Cassidy et al.
2018b; Maddox et al.
2017; Moseley et al.
2019,
2020). Large-scale population studies have followed, showing that autistic people are significantly more likely to die by self-harm and suicide compared to those in the general population (Hirvikoski et al.
2016; Hwang et al.
2019; Kirby et al.
2019). …