Ricketts R W, Goza A B, Matese M
Southwest Institute for Developmental Disabilities, Abilene, TX 79604.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1993 Mar;24(1):57-62. doi: 10.1016/0005-7916(93)90009-l.
Data on the long-term effectiveness of behavioral treatment for self-injurious behavior in individuals with mental retardation is rare. We present 4-year follow-up data on a 28-year-old man whose severe self-injurious behavior was treated with brief contingent electric stimulation via the Self-Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System (SIBIS). Event data collected throughout follow-up showed reductions in head-hitting and head-banging from over 2,600 responses per hour to approximately 1 response per hour during much of the first 31 months of treatment. However, the rate of head-banging began increasing thereafter, with the SIBIS losing its effectiveness to such an extent that it was no longer clinically useful.
