Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Contextual Factors Related to Self-Injury

Gray, Bethan and Kelly, James and Staniford, Leanne (2024) Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Contextual Factors Related to Self-Injury. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

Self-injury is the intentional harming of oneself and can occur either in the presence or absence of suicidal intent. This thesis aimed to gain a better understanding of self-injury within two populations with an increased prevalence: adolescents and young adults, and LGBTQ+ individuals. The terminology of ‘self-harm’ is used in the systematic literature review to reflect the language used by participants in the original studies, while ‘self-injury’ is used to operationalise the outcome measure in the empirical paper. Section one reports a qualitative systematic literature review of LGBTQ+ individual’s experiences of self-harm. Five databases were systematically searched, resulting in nine papers from eight studies being included in the review. A meta-ethnographic approach discovered four main themes: discrimination, making sense of self-harming, experiences underlying self-harm engagement, and a developing identity. The discrimination faced by LBGTQ+ individuals due to existing in a heteronormative and cisnormative society was explored as central to the experience of self-harm in this population. Section two describes an empirical study investigating thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness and fear of self-compassion as predictors of the urge to self-injure in adolescents and young adults. This cross-sectional study invited participants aged 16 to 25 (N=127) who experienced thoughts or urges of self-injury in the past six months to complete an online survey. Regression analysis found that only participant age and perceived burdensomeness significantly predicted the urge to self-injure in the final model. This adds to the existing body of research showing that perceived burdensomeness predicts suicidality by extending these findings to self-injury. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are made.