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Vulnerabilities to deliberate self-harm among adolescents: the role of alexithymia and victimization
- Authors:
- GARISCH Jessica Anne, WILSON Marc Stewart
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49(2), June 2010, pp.151-162.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Using a sample of 325 students aged between 16 and 23 years from a secondary school in Wellington, New Zealand, this study investigated vulnerabilities to deliberate self-harm among adolescents, specifically focusing on peer victimisation and alexithymia (described as a clinical construct referring to poor ability to identify and describe emotions, and poor interoceptive awareness), in order to better identify at-risk adolescents and their needs. The students completed self-report questionnaires about their history of deliberate self-harm and bullying, with a self-rating depression scale, and alexithymia measured using the self-report Toronto Alexithymia scale. The results showed that self-harming adolescents reported more victimisation and alexithymia symptomology than those who had never engaged in deliberate self harm. The researchers concluded that the findings suggest that stressors in the social environment such as bullying are more likely to facilitate deliberate self harm when an adolescent has poor emotion regulation and communication skills and when an individual is experiencing mood difficulties, and that the area of deliberate self-harm and emotional functioning requires extensive future research including longitudinal studies investigating the vulnerabilities created by victimisation and alexithymia.