Risk Factors and Approaches to Preventing Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents

4593

Abstract

The problem of self-injurious behavior from the point of view of the risk factors and prevention in adolescents is considered. Strategies of self-injurious behavior and characteristics of emotional dysregulation in those who self-injure are described. Finding help from peers/online friends and high stigmatizing/self-stigmatizing among self-injuring adolescents should be taken into account in treatment and prevention programs. Methods of preventing of self-injurious behavior are summarized. The following groups of methods are distinguished by purpose: informing about the problem, developing of adaptive self-regulation strategies and psychological and social support. The following prerequisites for developing school-based prevention programs of self-injurious behavior are defined: choosing a target group of adolescents (population, risk group, adolescents in stress-inducing situations), identifying the level of intervention (individual or group work with adolescents, their parents, teachers etc.), assessing the cultural specificity of the group. Programs should be based on current psychological knowledge about the development of self-injurious behavior and implicate the measuring of their efficacy.

General Information

Keywords: self-injurious behavior, adolescents, prevention

Journal rubric: Theoretical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2018070201

Funding. Article was prepared with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project № 16-06-01098

For citation: Polskaya N.A. Risk Factors and Approaches to Preventing Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents [Elektronnyi resurs]. Klinicheskaia i spetsial'naia psikhologiia = Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 2018. Vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 1–20. DOI: 10.17759/cpse.2018070201. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Natalia A. Polskaya, Doctor of Psychology, Associate Professor, Professor of the Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Department, Faculty of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Leading Researcher, Scientific and Practical Center for Mental Health of Children and Adolescents named after G.E. Sukhareva of the Moscow Department of Public Health, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7305-5577, e-mail: polskayana@yandex.ru

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