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Self-harm Behaviour (self-harm + behaviour)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	50%
Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Community psychiatric nurses' experience of working with people who engage in deliberate self-harm

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2008
Andrew R. Thompson
ABSTRACT:, This paper reports on a study that explored community psychiatric nurses' experiences of working with people who self-harm. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used with eight experienced community psychiatric nurses who participated in semi-structured interviews. Established quality control procedures were utilized including audit of the analysis process and validating the results with participants. The participants described struggling to conceptualize self-harm behaviour and generally reported finding working with people who self-harm stressful particularly in terms of managing the emotional impact upon themselves and the boundaries of their professional responsibilities in relation to managing risk. The therapeutic relationship was viewed as crucial and a variety of coping methods to manage the impact of the work, which had largely developed through ,on the job', experience were described. The results highlight the potential difficulties faced by community staff and can be translated into clear recommendations for training and support. [source]

The Self-Injury Questionnaire: evaluation of the psychometric properties in a clinical population

JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 2 2006
E. E. SANTA MINA rn ba baan msc phd
This paper presents the findings, from a clinical study, on the reliability and validity of a new measure for intentions in self-harm behaviour, the Self-Injury Questionnaire (SIQ). Eighty-three patients, who had presented to an emergency department with an episode of self-harm/suicidal behaviour, were given the SIQ as part of a battery of measures to evaluate differentiation in self-harm intentions based upon a history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse. The internal consistency for the total scale was strong (, = 0.83). Construct validity demonstrated significant correlations with standardized measures. A principle component analysis of responses yielded a five-factor solution with ,affect regulation' items loading on the first factor. Cronbach's alphas were adequate for each subscale (, = 0.72,0.77). These preliminary findings indicate that the SIQ is a valid and reliable measure for research in an acute self-harming population. [source]

Functional consistency across two behavioural modalities: fire-setting and self-harm in female special hospital patients

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 1 2007
Sarah Miller
Background,Fire-setting and self-harm behaviours among women in high security special hospitals may be understood using Shye's Action System Theory (AST) in which four functional modes are recognized: ,adaptive', ,expressive', ,integrative', and ,conservative'. Aims,To test for relationships between different forms of fire-setting and self-harm behaviours and AST modes among women in special hospital, and for consistency within modes across the two behaviours. Method,Clinical case files evidencing both fire-setting and self-harm behaviours (n = 50) were analysed for content, focusing on incident characteristics. A total of 29 fire-setting and 22 self-harm variables were analysed using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). Chi-square and Spearman's rho (,) analyses were used to determine functional consistency across behavioural modes. Results,Most women showed one predominant AST mode in fire-setting (n = 39) and self-harm (n = 35). Significant positive correlations were found between integrative and adaptive modes of functioning. The lack of correlation between conservative and expressive modes reflects the differing behaviours used in each activity. Despite this, significant cross-tabulations revealed that each woman had parallel fire-setting and self-harm styles. Discussion,Findings suggest that, for some women, setting fires and self harm fulfil a similar underlying function. Support is given to AST as a way of furthering understanding of damaging behaviours, whether self- or other-inflicted. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Self-inflicted bodily harm among victims of intimate-partner violence

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 5 2007
Randy A. Sansone
In this study, we surveyed 113 women psychiatric inpatients with regard to histories of intimate-partner violence and six self-harm behaviours related to the intentional damage of one's body (e.g., cutting, hitting, scratching self). Multiple regression analysis revealed that a history of domestic violence was a statistically significant predictor of bodily self-harm even after controlling for age and having ever been married. Among some victims of domestic violence, this statistical relationship may indicate an underlying common psychodynamic theme such as a high threshold for body maltreatment and/or low body esteem. Regardless, these data suggest that mental health clinicians need to explore among women victims of intimate-partner violence the presence of self-initiated bodily self-harm.,Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]