Citation

Zlotnick C, Shea MT, Pearlstein T, Simpson E, Costello E, Begin A. Compr. Psychiatry 1996; 37(1): 12-16.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8770520

Abstract

The overall purpose of the present study was to further our understanding of the mechanisms of self-mutilative behavior in a sample of female inpatients. The study found that self-mutilators (n = 103) displayed a greater degree of dissociative symptoms and alexithymia and a greater number of self-injurious behaviors, as well as higher rates of childhood sexual abuse, than nonmutilators (n = 45). In addition, the study found that among these variables, the number of self-injurious behaviors had the strongest relationship to self-mutilation. However, both dissociative symptoms and alexithymia were independently associated with self-mutilative behavior. Implications of our findings for clinicians and researchers are discussed.

Language: en