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Deliberate Self-Harm: The Interplay Between Attachment and Stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

Lisa Hallab  and
Tanya Covic
Lisa Hallab
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Australia.
Tanya Covic*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Australia. [email protected]
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr Tanya Covic, School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797 Penrith South DC 1797, NSW Australia.
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Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between attachment, mood and deliberate self-harm (DSH) in a nonclinical population (n = 114). In addition to a range of risky behaviours, the most commonly reported DSH behaviours were Head-banging (47%), Hitting (46%), Scratching (38%) and Cutting (34%). Those who engaged in DSH had poorer quality of attachment to both parents but not peers, and higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Path analysis was then used to examine the interaction between attachment, mood and DSH. The impact of the quality of attachment on DSH was found to be mediated by stress, which suggests that DSH may be a maladaptive coping mechanism. Attachment to father and peers was found to be more influential than attachment to mother. Our findings suggest that DSH may be more prevalent in the community than previously recognised, and that attachment, which is currently neglected in DSH research, warrants further investigation in both clinical and nonclinical populations.

Keywords

deliberate self-harmattachmentparentspeersstress
Type
Standard Papers
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , 01 June 2010 , pp. 93 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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