Interdisciplinarity and self-injury: Toward an inclusive research and treatment paradigm

Historically, the research and treatment of self-injury has been disciplinarily siloed. As a result, the behaviour is understood and treated differently among individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. We explore the potential for an interdisciplinary research and practice agenda in self-injury. We conducted 10 focus groups with experts in self-injury and analysed discussions that resulted from the question: "What is the role of interdisciplinarity in the study and treatment of self-injury?" Through a reflexive thematic analysis we came up with actionable and positively-oriented themes: Interdisciplinarity at the Individual Level, Context of Needed Systems-Level Change, Highlighting Workforce Support, Strategic Use of Implementation and Dissemination Science, and The Pursuit of Integration. Each theme includes several subthemes that describe specific strategies. An interdisciplinary approach is not only possible but worthwhile and would be particularly beneficial to supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities engaging in self-injurious behaviour.