<p>Det psykiska hälsoläget har förbättrats totalt sett i befolkningen de senaste åren, men trots det är detfortfarande oroväckande många unga som upplever att de mår psykiskt dåligt. Ett fenomen som ökat under senare tid och som kopplats samman med psykisk ohälsa, är olika former av självskadehandlingar. Det har tidigare visats att andra typer av riskbeteenden sprids i populationer genom att individer influeras av varandra. Bakgrunden till den här studien var en tanke om att ökningen av självskadehandlingar kan vara ett resultat av en form av smittspridning snarare än enbart ett tecken på försämrad psykisk hälsa. Som primär kanal för spridningen av beteendet undersöktes Internet eftersom mycket av ungdomars sociala liv utspelar sig på den arenan. Studien grundar sig på en enkät (n=192) till gymnasieelever. Syftet var att undersöka hur väl ungdomar kände till fenomenet självskadebeteende samt hur de kommunicerade med och influerades av sina vänner. Resultatet visade att mer än hälften av ungdomarna kommit i kontakt med självskadebeteende i form av bilder eller skriftliga inlägg på Internet och 86 % av tjejerna och 71 % av killarna kände dessutom till minst en person i sin närhet som medvetet skadat sig själv. Eftersom ungdomar exponeras av beteendet från många håll är det rimligt att anta att individer som upplever någon form av psykisk stress kan influeras av andra att prova ett självdestruktivt beteende. Beteendet förefaller mer utbrett än vad som skulle kunna förväntas om en svårare psykisk ohälsa var den enda orsaken. Att tidigt arbeta med självkänsla och se till att barn och unga har trygga sociala nätverk runt omkring sig kan vara ett sätt att förse dem med den motståndskraft som behövs för att stå emot negativa influenser från omgivningen.</p> / <p>The mental health status has improved in the overall population recent years although it is still worrying many young people who feel that they have a poor psychological health. A phenomenon that has increased recently, and are linked to mental illness, are various forms of self-injury acts. It has previously been shown that other types of risk behaviours spread in populations by individuals influenced by each other. The background of this study was to examine whether the increase in selfinjury acts can be the result of a form of contagion, rather than merely a sign of impaired mental health. Since a lot of young people's social life takes place on the Internet, this was the arena which was investigated. The study is based on a survey (n = 192) and was designed to examine how well young people were aware of the phenomenon of self-injury, and how they communicated with and how they were influenced by their friends. The results showed that more than half of the participants had been in contact with self-injury such as pictures or written messages on the Internet. Among the respondents 86% of the girls and 71% of the boys also knew at least one person who deliberately harmed themselves. Since adolescents are exposed to this behaviour from many directions, it is reasonable to assume that individuals who experience some form of mental stress may be influenced by others to try self-destructive behaviour. The behaviour seems to be more prevalent than would be expected if a severer mental illness was the solely cause. Early work on self-esteem and ensuring children and young people have a safe social network around them can be a way to provide them with the resilience needed to withstand the negative influences from their surroundings.</p>

Det psykiska hälsoläget har förbättrats totalt sett i befolkningen de senaste åren, men trots det är detfortfarande oroväckande många unga som upplever att de mår psykiskt dåligt. Ett fenomen som ökat under senare tid och som kopplats samman med psykisk ohälsa, är olika former av självskadehandlingar. Det har tidigare visats att andra typer av riskbeteenden sprids i populationer genom att individer influeras av varandra. Bakgrunden till den här studien var en tanke om att ökningen av självskadehandlingar kan vara ett resultat av en form av smittspridning snarare än enbart ett tecken på försämrad psykisk hälsa. Som primär kanal för spridningen av beteendet undersöktes Internet eftersom mycket av ungdomars sociala liv utspelar sig på den arenan. Studien grundar sig på en enkät (n=192) till gymnasieelever. Syftet var att undersöka hur väl ungdomar kände till fenomenet självskadebeteende samt hur de kommunicerade med och influerades av sina vänner. Resultatet visade att mer än hälften av ungdomarna kommit i kontakt med självskadebeteende i form av bilder eller skriftliga inlägg på Internet och 86 % av tjejerna och 71 % av killarna kände dessutom till minst en person i sin närhet som medvetet skadat sig själv. Eftersom ungdomar exponeras av beteendet från många håll är det rimligt att anta att individer som upplever någon form av psykisk stress kan influeras av andra att prova ett självdestruktivt beteende. Beteendet förefaller mer utbrett än vad som skulle kunna förväntas om en svårare psykisk ohälsa var den enda orsaken. Att tidigt arbeta med självkänsla och se till att barn och unga har trygga sociala nätverk runt omkring sig kan vara ett sätt att förse dem med den motståndskraft som behövs för att stå emot negativa influenser från omgivningen. / The mental health status has improved in the overall population recent years although it is still worrying many young people who feel that they have a poor psychological health. A phenomenon that has increased recently, and are linked to mental illness, are various forms of self-injury acts. It has previously been shown that other types of risk behaviours spread in populations by individuals influenced by each other. The background of this study was to examine whether the increase in selfinjury acts can be the result of a form of contagion, rather than merely a sign of impaired mental health. Since a lot of young people's social life takes place on the Internet, this was the arena which was investigated. The study is based on a survey (n = 192) and was designed to examine how well young people were aware of the phenomenon of self-injury, and how they communicated with and how they were influenced by their friends. The results showed that more than half of the participants had been in contact with self-injury such as pictures or written messages on the Internet. Among the respondents 86% of the girls and 71% of the boys also knew at least one person who deliberately harmed themselves. Since adolescents are exposed to this behaviour from many directions, it is reasonable to assume that individuals who experience some form of mental stress may be influenced by others to try self-destructive behaviour. The behaviour seems to be more prevalent than would be expected if a severer mental illness was the solely cause. Early work on self-esteem and ensuring children and young people have a safe social network around them can be a way to provide them with the resilience needed to withstand the negative influences from their surroundings.

Author: Madeleine Ahlström and Hanna Puonti Title: To meet the invisible population - A qualitative study of men with deliberate self-injury [Att möta de osynliga - En kvalitativ studie om killar med självskadebeteende] Supervisor: Anders Östnäs Assessor: Jan Petersson   This study aims to provide a picture of the underlying causes why men deliberately hurt themselves. It also aims to provide a picture revolving how men self-harm and what the direct effects are from their self-harm. The study describes their behaviour and how the behaviour has evolved over time. There is also a focus in the study to illustrate how society´s operative approach towards men makes their self-harm invisible, and make them an invisible population that neither the scientists nor the general population chooses to see. Self-injury is strongly associated with girls and their way of harming themselves. Men have been excluded from studies of self-injury, also have there been very few scientists that found them of interest to study.   This is a study with a qualitative approach wich executed eight semi-structured interviews with men who have had a behavior of self-injury. The study takes on a hermeneutic approach to knowledge, to have the possibility to interpret in the analysis of the empirics. To analyse the data we have used a qualitative content analysis according to Graneheim and Lundman (2004). The results has been analysed by Antonovsky´s (2005) KASAM theory. The study has found that men have a self-injury that is multifaceted. The men in the study use different behaviours to manage various emotional factors that affect them. Deliberate self-injurious behaviours become a coping strategy for the men when they didn’t have other strategies to cope with when their faced difficulties.

Gli esseri umani vengono definiti come membri di un gruppo quando assumono i significati che il gruppo stesso crea ed utilizza per concepire sè stesso, i suoi membri e l'universo in generale. Abbiamo studiato i significati che definiscono un essere umano nella versione dell'"autolesionista utente di un gruppo online". In primo luogo, tramite un'analisi tematica di post condivisi nel forum del gruppo siamo venuti a conoscenza delle teorie sul comportamento, la sofferenza ad esso associata ed altre tematiche che definiscono "l'autolesionista". I risultati ottenuti hanno dimostrato che i significati che descrivevano il dolore associato all'autolesionismo erano più rilevanti rispetto a quelli legati all'atto. In seguito tramite IPA di interviste individuali abbiamo compreso che la qualità dello spazio del forum e della relazione tra le dimensioni online e offline determinavano influenze reciproche tra la partecipazione al forum, gli effetti sul sè e sul comportamento e il tipo di utilizzo del forum. Infine abbiamo condotto quattro incontri online con un gruppo di utenti del forum e lavorando sui significati, abbiamo stimolato la loro capacità di diventare consapevoli del loro stato mentale in relazione al comportamento autolesionista. / Human beings are defined as members of a group when they assume the meanings that such group creates and uses to conceive itself, its members and the world in general. We studied meanings that shape a human being in the version of a “self-injurer member of an online group”. Firstly, through a thematic analysis of posts shared in the forum of the group we became acquainted with theories about the behavior, its associated sufferance and other issues that define “a self-injurer”. We found that the most important meanings related to the sufferance rather than to the practice of self-injurious gestures. Secondly, through IPA of individual interviews we understood that the quality of the space of the forum and the relationship between online and offline dimensions determined influences between the self-injurer's identity and her experience in the forum in terms of participation, effects on self and behavior, and type of use of the forum. Finally, we conducted four online meetings with a group of users of the forum and always focusing on meanings, we stimulated their capacity to be aware about their mental states in relation to self-injury.

Tyrimo tikslas - išsiaiškinti sąmoningai save žalojančių ir turinčių savižudiškų tendencijų paauglių sveikatai nepalankaus elgesio ypatumus. Tyrime dalyvavo 690 tiriamųjų. Iš jų 379 (54,9 %) vaikinai ir 311 (45,1 %) merginų. 38 (5,5 %) respondentai nurodė sąmoningai save žalojantys, iš jų tik 13 (1,9 %) tiriamųjų išsakė neturintys savižudiškų ketinimų. 86 (12,5 %) paaugliai nurodė turintys savižudiškų ketinimų, iš kurių 61 (8,9 %) respondentas turintis savižudiškų ketinimų, tačiau savęs nežaloja. Tai reiškia, kad 25 (3,6 %) tiriamieji ir sąmoningai save žaloja, ir turi savižudiškų ketinimų. Tiriamųjų amžius nuo 12 iki 19 metų. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, jog paaugliai yra labiau linkę save žalojant turėti savižudiškų ketinimų, nei tie, kurie savęs nežaloja, tačiau turi savižudiškų ketinimų. Tik sąmoningai save žalojantys paaugliai be savižudiškų ketinimų vartoja alkoholinius gėrimus, elgiasi agresyviai ir turėjo ankstyvų lytinių santykių rečiau nei sąmoningai save žalojantys paaugliai turintys savižudiškų ketinimų, tačiau dažniau nei tik savižudiškų ketinimų turintys paaugliai. Taip pat galima pastebėti tendencijas, kad tik sąmoningai save žalojantys paaugliai be savižudiškų ketinimų rūko ir vartoja narkotines medžiagas rečiau nei sąmoningai save žalojantys paaugliai turintys savižudiškų ketinimų, tačiau dažniau nei tik savižudiškų ketinimų turintys paaugliai. / The survey has been targeted to find out the peculiarity of adolescents health untoward behavior between non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal tendencies. There were 690 participants in the survey, 379 (54,9 %) boys and 311 (45,1 %) girls. 38 (5,5 %) participants were self-injurers, 13 (1,9 %) of them were non-suicidal self-injurers. 86 (12,5 %) adolescents noted to have suicidal tendencies, 61 (8,9 %) of them noted to have only suicidal tendencies without self-injuring behavior. It means that 25 (3,6 %) respondents self-injure themselves and report suicidal tendencies. The participants age was from 12 to 19 years old. The results showed that adolescents are tend to report suicidal tendencies the same time when they are self-injuring compared to those who does not self-injure and report only suicidal tendencies. Adolescents who experience non-suicidal self-injure, use alcohol, drugs, behave aggressive and have early sexual intercourse more rarely than those who self-injure and report suicidal tendencies, but more often then those, who report only suicidal tendencies. Also there can be noted the tendency, that non-suicidal sel-injurers smoke cigarettes and use drugs more rarely than those adolescents who self-injure and report suicidal tendencies, but more often then those adolescents, who report only suicidal tendencies.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of suicide-related mental imagery in suicidal behavior. It was hypothesized that engagement (frequency, emotional impact, vividness, realism) with suicidal imagery would be related to suicidality, with greater engagement with imagery associated with more suicidal behaviors. Acquired capability for suicide was expected to be a mediator of this relationship. These hypotheses were tested by surveying 237 undergraduate university students (59% female; mean age = 20). Students completed a packet of self-report measures: The Modified Suicidal Cognitions Interview, The Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale, and the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire. Results suggested that engagement with suicide-related imagery was positively correlated with suicidality. The correlational analyses showed that an additional mediational analysis was unwarranted. The implications of these findings are that understanding suicide-related mental imagery could play an important role in clinical risk assessment and treatment for suicidality, and that further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the relationship between suicide-related mental imagery and suicidal behavior.

This study explored mindfulness in eight self–injuring psychiatric adolescents. A concurrent triangulation mixed–method design was used. In–depth semi–structured clinical interviews and clinical records constituted the qualitative data, while quantitative data was gathered using the Five–Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Thematic analysis was used to generate themes and subthemes for both selfinjury and mindfulness. Findings regarding self–injury were in line with the literature. In terms of mindfulness, two groups emerged: one sometimes acting mindfully and the other often acting mindfully. Both similarities and differences were found between the groups. Similarities in self–injuring behaviour can be explained by their similar scores on Observe and Nonreact, while the differences can be explained by the differences in their scores on Describe, Act with Awareness and Nonjudge. Those who sometimes act mindfully tend to be more self–critical, report more severe and lethal self–injuring episodes and more often use self–injury for self–punishment. Although those who often act mindfully self–injure more often, they show more selfcompassion and report less severe injuries and less lethal methods. Future research should explore the usefulness of mindfulness–based interventions, especially teaching Nonjudge and Nonreact skills, to not only increase mindfulness, but to decrease selfinjuring behaviour. Seeing that this is an exploratory study on a small sample, the results presented here should be considered to be preliminary until replicated with a larger clinical sample. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study explored mindfulness in eight self–injuring psychiatric adolescents. A concurrent triangulation mixed–method design was used. In–depth semi–structured clinical interviews and clinical records constituted the qualitative data, while quantitative data was gathered using the Five–Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Thematic analysis was used to generate themes and subthemes for both selfinjury and mindfulness. Findings regarding self–injury were in line with the literature. In terms of mindfulness, two groups emerged: one sometimes acting mindfully and the other often acting mindfully. Both similarities and differences were found between the groups. Similarities in self–injuring behaviour can be explained by their similar scores on Observe and Nonreact, while the differences can be explained by the differences in their scores on Describe, Act with Awareness and Nonjudge. Those who sometimes act mindfully tend to be more self–critical, report more severe and lethal self–injuring episodes and more often use self–injury for self–punishment. Although those who often act mindfully self–injure more often, they show more selfcompassion and report less severe injuries and less lethal methods. Future research should explore the usefulness of mindfulness–based interventions, especially teaching Nonjudge and Nonreact skills, to not only increase mindfulness, but to decrease selfinjuring behaviour. Seeing that this is an exploratory study on a small sample, the results presented here should be considered to be preliminary until replicated with a larger clinical sample. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The purpose of this study is that through a discourse theoretical perspective, analyze young girls 'statements about living with self-injuring by sexual behavior. The aim is to locate the discourses that surround them, visualize how discursive constructions affect these young girls' identity as victims and/or actors in relation to self-injury, the sexual violence and in meetings with the professionals within the health authorities. In addition discourse theory as an analyze method, the authors also use Nils Christie's (2001) theory of the ideal victim and Ingrid Landers (2003) theoretical perspectives on normative femininity. The authors of the study show a diversity of discourses that surround the young girls. All discourses contain normative actor- and victim’s positions that young girls constantly are obliged to relate to, which partially conflict with social constructions of the idea of victim and femininity. These positions are assigned, claimed or opposition to, and characterizes not only the young girls self-image, but also how professionals within the health authorities look at them and what support and assistance that’s offered or deprived. Finally, the authors argue for a broader approach to young girls who self-injuring by sexual behavior, they can be both victims and actors and advocates a questioning of oppressive norms to detect and identify the young girls who self-injure by sexual behavior, when it is a prerequisite to widen their options and discretion.

本研究主要目的在於探討在不同情緒經驗及反芻風格對男女性自傷行為的影響。回顧過去研究，情緒被認為是多數自傷者自傷的動機及原因之一。可惜的是，大多數研究聚焦在負向情緒經驗，而較少探討正向情緒及不同激發程度的影響力。Selby（2008）的情緒瀑布理論提出反芻風格能夠增加負面情緒強度的論點，也暗示了反芻風格也是另一個與自傷行為相關認知因子。因此本研究認為情緒經驗與反芻風格可能皆為自傷發生的關鍵。有鑑於許多文獻結果指出，男女性的自傷危險因子可能存在差異，本研究便把性別差異納入考量，欲了解男、女性是否在情緒經驗及反芻風格的自傷預測因子有所不同。 本研究對象為508位北部某私立高職部學生，請學生填寫包含基本資料、反芻風格、自傷狀況及情緒經驗的評估共四部份問卷。研究結果顯示，在預測過去一年自傷行為的因子上，的確有性別差異。對女性來說，預測過去一年是否自傷的有效因子分別為負向情緒及負向低激發情緒，男性則是負向情緒及正向低激發情緒。在自傷頻率方面，對男女性來說，沒有任何情緒經驗或反芻風格為有效預測因子。在自傷種類數方面，沒有任何情緒經驗或反芻風格為女性自傷頻率的有效預測因子；對男性來說，則是負向情緒及低激發情緒能夠有效預測過去一年自傷種類多寡。研究最後針對這樣的結果做進一步討論及提供實務上的意涵及應用。 / The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of emotion experiences and rumination styles on Non-suicidal self-injury behavior (NSSI) in males and females. According to past studies, emotion was considered a critical factor in motivating individuals to practice NSSI. However, most studies focused on negative emotion experiences, and ignored the role of positive emotions and the effect of emotion activation level. Moreover, Selby’s Emotional Cascade Model proposes that rumination style will increase the negative affect intensity, suggesting that rumination style may be another key factor to NSSI. In addition, due to several studies have shown gender differences in risk factors for NSSI, the gender difference will be also take into account in the present study. To sum up, the present study aimed to examine gender differences in predictors (i.e., emotion experiences and rumination styles) for NSSI. The participants were 508 high school students from one of the private vocational high school in Northern Taiwan. All participants were asked to fill out the questionnaire pack which included demographic questionnaire, short-form rumination style questionnaire, deliberate self- harm inventory, and affect valuation inventory. The results show that gender differences in predicting NSSI existed: First, in predicting the occurrence of NSSI in the past year, negative affect and low arousal negative emotion were the most effective factors for females; negative emotion and low arousal positive emotion were the most effective ones for males. Second, neither emotion experience nor rumination style can predict the frequency of NSSI in the past year for males and females. Third, in predicting the numbers of types of self-injury used in the past year, there was no effective predictor for females; negative emotion and low arousal emotion were the effective predictors for males. Finally, the results and the practical implication were discussed in the thesis.