Abstract
Given the clinical importance of deliberate self-harm and the need for further research informing the treatment and prevention of this behavior, a review of the extant literature on the risk factors for and functions of self-harm is needed. In this article, I review empirical and theoretical literature on the following potential risk factors for self-harm: childhood sexual and physical abuse, neglect, childhood separation and loss, security of attachment to caregivers, and emotional reactivity and intensity. Literature on the emotion regulating function of self-harm behavior is also reviewed. Future research is needed on the interaction of individual and environmental risk factors in the development of self-harm, as well as on the experi-entially avoidant function of this behavior.
Keywords
HarmPsychologyEmpirical researchEpistemologySocial psychologyPhilosophy
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Publication Info
- Year
- 2003
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 192-205
- Citations
- 486
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Kim L. Gratz
(2003).
Risk factors for and functions of deliberate self-harm: An empirical and conceptual review..
Clinical Psychology Science and Practice
, 10
(2)
, 192-205.
https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg022
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1093/clipsy.bpg022