@article{ref1,
title="An international comparison of adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts: Germany and the USA",
journal="Psychological medicine",
year="2009",
author="Plener, Paul Lukas and Libal, Gerhard and Keller, Ferdinand and Fegert, Jörg Michael and Muehlenkamp, Jennifer J.",
volume="39",
number="9",
pages="1549-1558",
abstract="BACKGROUND: This study examined the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicide attempts, suicide threats and suicidal ideation in a German school sample and compared the rates with a similar sample of adolescents from the midwestern USA by using cross-nationally validated assessment tools.MethodData were provided from 665 adolescents (mean age 14.8 years, s.d.=0.66, range 14-17 years) in a school setting. Students completed the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire (SHBQ), the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory (OSI) and a German version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). RESULTS: A quarter of the participants (25.6%) endorsed at least one act of NSSI in their life, and 9.5% of those students answered that they had hurt themselves repetitively (more than four times). Forty-three (6.5%) of the students reported a history of a suicide attempt. No statistically significant differences were observed between the German and US samples in terms of self-injury or suicidal behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: By using the same validated assessment tools, no differences were found in the prevalence and characteristics of self-injury and suicidal behaviors between adolescents from Germany and the USA. Thus, it seems that NSSI has to be understood as worldwide phenomenon, at least in Western cultures.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0033-2917",
doi="10.1017/S0033291708005114",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291708005114"
}