Thirteen reasons why. motives for self-harm in adolescent boys and girls
List of Authors
  • Demuthova Slavka

Keyword
  • self-harm, motivation, youth, sex, age

Abstract
  • Self-harm is a very common form of high-risk behaviour prevalent among children and youths. In addition to studying the forms and types of this behaviour, one of the key issues is to reveal what motivates young people to commit intentional self-harm. Information on what motivates them enables us to not only understand the psychological mechanisms that lie behind the phenomenon of self-harm, but it also provides valuable data that is critical for clinical interventions and prevention. Using the Inventory of Statements about Self-Injury, this study provides an overview of the prevalence of thirteen different motives for self-harm on a group of 390 Slovak adolescents aged between 11 and 19 who have self-harmed. It also identifies the most frequent motives, explores the presence of cross-gender differences, and searches for a link between the individual motives and the ages of the participants.

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