The factors leading to the act of self-harm in adolescence have just been brought to light by a study. This self-destructive behavior is mainly found in young girls.
- The link between traumatic memory, avoidance trait and self-mutilation remains to be clarified.
- According to an American study, adolescents who self-harm have low self-awareness, a strong avoidance trait and at least one parent with a history of substance abuse.
- The link between traumatic memory, avoidance trait and self-mutilation remains to be clarified.
Is it possible to detect which teenager is likely to self-harm? According to an American study published August 22 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrythere are three key factors to predict the first occurrence of non-suicidal self-harm during three years: low awareness, strong avoidance and a history of substance abuse in the parents.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers used the database of the study “Adolescent Development of Emotions and Personality Traits”. This research program, which started in 2013, monitors the health and well-being of girls in a neighborhood in New York (USA). The scientists selected a sample of 462 girls aged 13 to 15 who had never experienced self-harm. They then plotted the psychological vulnerabilities – including personality traits and psychological symptoms – of their cohort as well as the mental health of their parents. Then for 3 years, the researchers exchanged with the adolescent girls. During the study, 42 girls said they started self-harming. Their baseline psychological vulnerabilities were compared to the remaining 420 girls who were never injured. These 42 girls have the particularity of having basic levels of consciousness, clearly lower than the others, and higher levels of avoidance. Moreover they were twice as likely to have a parent who had a substance abuse problem at some point in their life.
“These findings point to two main psychological pathways to adolescent self-harm. The first is disinhibition – an urgency to act and difficulty regulating one’s behavior, often in the face of strong negative emotionsanalyzes Molly Gromatsky who led the study and researcher at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx, New York. The second is to avoid upsetting memories or thoughts, with self-harm being used as a maladaptive coping strategy to distract from intense negative feelings. Parental substance abuse may play a role via inherited genetic susceptibility to mental health problems, as well as via environmental transmission of risk.“
A trail of prevention
Heartbreaking memories? According to previous studies, it could be the experience of violence or abuse, as well as poverty and bullying that in children have significant impacts on non-suicidal self-harm and other psychological vulnerabilities. However, this study does not establish a direct link between the traumatic memory and the avoidance trait. “In addition to expanding our understanding of the development of self-harm, the present study derived a personality profile with good ability to identify adolescent girls at risk of self-harm.pleads Roman Kotov, co-author of the study and professor in the department of psychiatry at Stony Brook University in New York. If replicated in independent samples, this set of characteristics would allow rapid psychological screening that could be collected in community samples of adolescents (e.g., in schools or primary care, facilitating targeted prevention) .“
A public health issue according to the researchers. “Self-harm is common among adolescents, especially girls”, says Monika Waszczuk, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Stony Brook University in New York. However, nearly half of them continue this type of behavior into adulthood. These self-mutilations cover different realities such as cuts or burns.
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The link between traumatic memory, avoidance trait and self-mutilation remains to be clarified.
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According to an American study, adolescents who self-harm have low self-awareness, a strong avoidance trait and at least one parent with a history of substance abuse.
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