Positive Clinical Psychology (PCP) argues that positive and negative psychological constructs are jointly important for explaining psychological problems. “Positive” constructs have been explicitly focused on by positive psychology researchers and “negative” constructs have been explicitly focused on by mental health researchers. This thesis examines the relationship between positive and negative constructs in relation to four psychological problems: depressive symptoms (Chapter 2), anxiety-problems (Chapter 3), suicide attempts (SAs) (Chapter 4 and 5), and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) (Chapter 4 and 5). Clarifying how psychological problems are most appropriately conceptualised has implications for definitions, diagnostic criteria, measurement, and clinical interventions. This thesis provides evidence that some constructs form bipolar continua, having a positive pole and a negative pole, whilst other constructs do not. Chapters 2 and 3 demonstrate that well-being and calmness respectively form continua with depressive and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, Chapters 4 and 5 demonstrate that SA and NSSI cognitions do not form a continuum with another construct. Results indicate that positive and negative constructs appear to have different relationships to one-another depending on the construct under investigation. Constructs that are common in the general population – such as depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, well-being symptoms, and calmness symptoms – appear to be bipolar, having a positive and a negative pole. Psychological constructs that are rare in the general population and which specifically characterise psychological problems (rather than being an extreme manifestation of a common psychological experience) – such as SA and NSSI cognitions – appear to be unipolar. The replication of scientific findings also features strongly throughout this thesis. Each chapter may therefore have a timely bearing on the emerging “replication crisis” literature.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:39:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gisele da Silva Baraldi.pdf: 891815 bytes, checksum: 73401fda92bcb9ee3c69ff8f11ce6ea2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / People with development disorders and intellectual disability usually present behavioral problems in different levels of severity. This impairs their development, social adaptation and possibilities of inclusion. The most frequent procedures to identify behavioral problems are behavioral observation and standardized behavioral inventories. In Brazil standardized instruments to evaluate behavioral problems in patients with atypical development are scarce. The objective of this study was to translate into Brazilian Portuguese and make a cultural adaptation of The Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI-01). The sample was composed of 60 children and adolescents (30 of them with typical development and 30 with atypical development), age range 6-16 years old, their respective caretakers and 3 professionals of the development disorders field. The instruments for data collection were the following: a) Brazilian version of The Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI-01), b) Brazilian version of Child Behavior Checklist for ages 6-18 (CBCL/6-18), c) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, d) Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ). The coefficients of content validity obtained through the assessment of the items by referees based in objectivity, plainness and accuracy criteria ranged from 0,7 and 0,8 (70 to 80% of agreement). Internal consistency indicators among items of BPI-01, obtained through Cronbach‟s alpha, reached a coefficient of 0,65 in the scale of self-injury behaviors, 0,91 in the scale of stereotyped behaviors and 0,82 in the scale of aggressive/destructive behaviors. To assess the relation between sensibility and specificity among frequency values of the BPI-01 scales it was used the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC Curve). Preliminary results of this analysis identified sensibility values at 0,76 and specificity at 0,06 for a 0,5 point score in the scale of self-injury behaviors; sensibility at 0,40 and specificity at 0,03 for a 1,5 point score in the scale of stereotyped behaviors; sensibility at 0,23 and specificity at 0,03 for a 3,5 points score in the scale of aggressive/destructive behavior. A Spearman analysis made with BPI-01 scores and the scores of ASQ and CBCL/6-18 reached statistically significant coefficients of moderate to high level. Results show indicators of proper convergent validity among the scales of BPI-01 and CBCL/6-18 and ASQ inventories. The Cronbach‟s alpha coefficients displayed adequate statistical reliability properties of the Brazilian version of the instrument. Although it is necessary to broaden the sample, these preliminary values obtained through the ROC method indicate adequate indexes of sensibility and specificity in the scales of self- njury and stereotypy with cut-points at 0,5 and 1,5 among the typical and atypical groups respectively. / Pessoas com distúrbios do desenvolvimento e deficiência intelectual freqüentemente apresentam problemas de comportamento em níveis variados de gravidade que prejudicam seu desenvolvimento, adaptação social e possibilidades de inclusão. Os procedimentos mais utilizados para identificar problemas de comportamento são a observação comportamental e os inventários comportamentais padronizados. No Brasil há uma escassez de instrumentos padronizados para avaliar problemas de comportamento em populações com desenvolvimento atípico. O objetivo do estudo é traduzir e realizar adaptação cultural do instrumento The Behavior Problems Inventory-BPI-01 para a língua portuguesa do Brasil. A amostra foi composta por 60 crianças e adolescentes na faixa etária de 6 a 16 anos de idade (30 com desenvolvimento típico e 30 com desenvolvimento atípico), seus respectivos cuidadores e três profissionais da área de distúrbios do desenvolvimento. Os instrumentos de coleta de dados foram os seguintes: a) Versão Brasileira do Inventário de Problemas Comportamentais/The Behavior Problems Inventory-BPI-01, b) Versão brasileira do Inventário dos comportamentos de crianças e adolescentes de 6 a 18 anos (CBCL/ 6-18), c) Escala de Inteligência Wechsler para crianças, d) Questionário de Avaliação de Autismo/ASQ. Os coeficientes de validade de conteúdo resultantes da avaliação dos itens, efetuada pelos juízes com base nos critérios de objetividade, clareza e precisão oscilaram entre 0,7 e 0,8 (70 a 80% de concordância). Indicadores de consistência interna entre os itens do BPI-01 mediante uso do coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach identificaram um coeficiente de 0,65 na escala de comportamentos auto-agressivos, 0,91 na escala de comportamentos estereotipados e 0,82 na escala de comportamentos agressivos/destrutivos. Para avaliar a relação entre sensibilidade e especificidade entre os valores de freqüência das escalas do BPI-01, foi utilizado o método das Curvas de Características de Operação do Receptor (Curva ROC - Receiver Operating Characteristic). Resultados preliminares desta análise identificaram valores de sensibilidade 0,76 e especificidade 0,06 para um escore de 0.5 ponto na escala de comportamentos auto-agressivos; 0,40 de sensibilidade e 0,03 de especificidade para um escore de 1,5 ponto na escala de comportamentos estereotipados e; 0,23 de sensibilidade e 0,03 de especificidade para escore igual a 3,5 pontos na escala de comportamentos agressivos/destrutivos. A análise de correlação mediante uso de coeficiente Spearman entre os escores do BPI-01 e os escores do inventário ASQ e CBCL/6-18 identificou coeficientes estatisticamente significativos de nível médio a moderado. Os resultados mostraram indicadores de validade convergente adequados entre as escalas do BPI-01 e os inventários CBCL/6-18 e o ASQ. Os valores dos coeficientes Alfa de Cronbach mostraram adequadas propriedades estatísticas de fidedignidade da versão brasileira do instrumento. Embora seja necessário ampliar o número amostral, os valores preliminares obtidos mediante uso de método ROC apontam para indicadores adequados de sensibilidade e especificidade nas escalas de auto-agressividade e estereotipia com pontos de corte entre o grupo típico e atípico de 0,5 e 1,5 respectivamente.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is increasingly understood as representing a public health concern and a behavioral marker of emotional and psychological distress among young people. NSSI is prevalent during the period of young adulthood, including among emerging adults pursuing a university education, yet the vulnerability factors associated with NSSI in this population merit more in-depth and contextualized investigation. The current dissertation's overarching objective was to better understand the risk context surrounding university students' engagement in NSSI. Using a sample of 2,579 students (75.2% female; Mage=18.97; SDage=1.54), Study 1 first explored the roles of parental (mother and father pressure) and intrapersonal (emotion dysregulation, academic coping, perfectionism subtypes) risk factors in university students’ likelihood and frequency of engagement in NSSI in the past year. An integrated latent structural equation model revealed that higher levels of perceived mother and father pressure were associated with a greater likelihood of past-year NSSI engagement in the university student sample. Among intrapersonal risk factors, only emotion dysregulation was found to be associated with higher NSSI likelihood and frequency. Building upon these results, Study 2 sought to narrow in further on understanding the emotion regulation profiles of university students with a past-year history of NSSI. Using a person-centered statistical approach, university students who reported having engaged in NSSI within the past year (n = 479; 83.8% female; Mage = 18.77; SDage = 1.43) were classified into latent profiles based on their self-perceived difficulties in regulating both positive and negative emotions. Independent samples of students who had a past history of NSSI but had not self-injured within the previous year (n = 439; 82.9% females; Mage = 19.03, SDage = 1.62) and who had no history of NSSI (n = 1551; 69.9% females; Mage = 19.02, SDage = 1.55) were included as comparison groups. Latent cluster analyses uncovered three emotion regulation profiles within the NSSI sample - the Average Difficulties (47.4%), Dysregulated (33.0%), and Low Difficulties (19.6%) profiles - each of which differed meaningfully from both comparison samples on mean levels of emotion regulation difficulties. Students across the three profiles also differed in their self-reported experiences with parents, particularly with fathers (perceived pressure, antipathy, unresolved attachment, psychological control), and in the extent to which they felt alienated from parents. Lastly, students across profiles differed in the frequency, methods, functions, and addictive properties of their NSSI. Taken together, findings from the current dissertation expanded our awareness of vulnerability factors for NSSI that have historically been understudied (e.g., parental pressure, father-child relationships, dysregulated positive emotions), while also bringing into focus the notion that even well-established NSSI risk factors (emotion regulation difficulties) can manifest quite heterogeneously amongst university students with a history of self-injurious behavior.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att undersöka hur olika professionella med kunskap om sexuella problematiker, tänker kring och uppfattar sex som självskada. Sex som självskada är ett relativt nytt ämne inom forskningssammanhang och forskningen är därmed begränsad. För studien genomfördes tio kvalitativa intervjuer med professionella som arbetar med klienter/patienter med olika typer av sexuella problematiker i storstadsområden, samt en mellanstor stad i Sverige. Det insamlade materialet bearbetades genom en tematisk analys och analyserades utifrån teorin det sexuella scriptet. Studien visar att de professionella menar att sex som självskada inte har något med vilken typ av sexuell aktivitet en person ägnar sig åt, utan av vilken anledning en person har sex samt hur personen mår under eller efter sex/övergrepp. De menar att det är upp till en person själv att definiera huruvida hen ägnar sig åt ett sexuellt självskadebeteende eller ej. Studien pekar även på att det finns osäkerheter hos det professionella kring vad begreppet innebär. / The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how different professionals with knowledge of sexual problems, perceive and think about sex as self-injury. Sex as self-injury is a relatively new subject in research contexts and hence the reaserch is limited. For this study ten qualitative interviews were conducted with professionals who work with clients/patients with different kinds of sexual problems in metropolitan areas and one medium-sized city in Sweden. The material collected was processed by thematic analysis and analyzed based on the sexual script theory. The study indicates that the professionals believe that sex as self-injury has nothing to do with the type of sexual activity a person engages in, but rather for what reason, and how the person feels during or after sex/abuse. Whether or not a person is engaging in sex as self-injury is something that has to be defined by a the persons themselves, according to the professionals. The study also indicates that the professionals feel uncertain about what the term actually entails.

No description available.

Denna kvalitativ intervjustudie, söker en förståelse kring fenomenet sex som självskadebeteende. Självskadebeteende har studerats och definierats, men sex som ett självskadebeteende är inte inkluderat som ett begrepp i dessa vetenskapliga studier (Zetterqvist, 2014; Nock, 2014; Klonsky 2009). Däremot har psykologer, organisationer och andra professionella tolkat och definierat fenomenet som att det existerar (Sjöström, 2012; Landgren 2015; Jonsson och Mattson, 2013; Tjejouren 2015; MUCF, 2013).Genom intervjuer med tre olika personer som kommer i kontakt med sex som självskadebeteende, kombinerat med tidigare forskning, visar denna studie att sex kan användas som självskadebeteende och att det görs i syfte att hantera (coping) ångest och andra negativa känslor. Tidigare trauman och/eller en dysfunktionell familjedynamik kan leda till att en individ utvecklar icke fungerande strategier för att hantera potentiella dåliga känslor. Individerna vänder sig till sexuella destruktiva beteenden som en affektregleringstrategi. Studien visar att prostitution kan vara associerat med riskabelt sex, i form av att det kan vara ett sätt att utsätta sig själv för farliga situationer.Skillnader mellan sex som ett självskadebeteende och andra självskadebeteenden har påvisats. Dessa är beskrivna som att kontrollen ges bort till en annan person. Sex är också något som egentligen ger njutning och är ett naturligt beteende, vilket gör det svårt att sluta helt med till skillnad från andra självskadebeteenden. Istället behöver individen finna strategier för att kunna ha ett friskt sexuellt beteende. Då sex som självskadebeteende inte är vetenskapligt befäst, så visar resultaten på detta öppnar upp för subjektiva tolkningar kring hur man ser och bemöter fenomenet. Dock var intervjupersonerna överens om att det behövs ett öppet och normkritiskt förhållningssätt. Slutligen ställs frågan ifall vetenskapen representerar den enda och rätta kunskapen. Det är möjligt att praktisk och icke-vetenskaplig kunskap kan vara lika viktig. / This study aims to, through a qualitative interview approach, reach a further understanding of the phenomenon sex as a self-injury behavior. Self injury behaviors have been studied and defined, but sex as a self-injury was not included in the scientific studies Zetterqvist, 2014; Nock, 2014; Klonsky 2009). However, psychologist´s, organizations, and other professionals where interpreters and define this matter as if it existed (Sjöström, 2012; Landgren 2015; Jonsson och Mattson, 2013; Tjejouren 2015; MUCF, 2013).By interviewing three different people that come in contact with sex as a self-injury through work, combined with previous research, this study has come to show how sex can be used in the same way as any other self-injury behavior. The result shows that sex can be used for self-injury and that it is done in the purpose of coping with anxiety and other bad feelings. Previous trauma and/or a dysfunctional family dynamic can lead to an individual developing non-functional strategies to cope with potential bad feelings. Individuals turn to a sexual destructive behavior as a strategy to cope. The study shows that prostitution can be associated with risky sex as it can become a way of exposing yourself to dangerous situations.Differences between sex as a self-injury behavior and other self-injury behavior where detected. These where described in the way that control is given away to a other person. Also sex is something that usually gives pleasure and is a natural behavior so to just stop having sex is not desirable. Instead the person must find a way of having a healthy sexual behavior. The result shows that due to the fact that sex as a self-injury behavior does not have a scientific status subjective interpretation can be made on how to look an approach the phenomenon. However all the respondents agreed that you need an open and norm critical approach. Furthermore the question can be asked if scientific concepts represent the only right knowledge. Is it possible that practical and non-scientific knowledge can be as important.

Självskadebeteende är relativt vanligt förekommande bland personer med psykisk ohälsa. Återhämtning är ett begrepp som beskriver hur en person kan återerövra och finna kvalitet i sitt liv trots svår sjukdom. Självskadebeteende innebär ett stort lidande för individen och påverkar närstående i personens omgivning negativt. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att utifrån egenerfarnas perspektiv sammanställa kunskap om vad som främjar återhämtning vid självskadebeteende. Metoden för studien var en integrerad litteraturöversikt, vilken utgick från 15 vetenskapliga artiklar och resulterade i 6 kategorier. I resultatet framkom att återhämtning hos personer med självskadebeteende kunde främjas av att komma till en vändpunkt, att vara i gemenskap med andra med liknande erfarenheter, att få stöd av närstående, att få professionellt stöd, att förstå och kunna hantera svåra känslor och handlingar, och av att finna inre styrka. Forskning visade även att det bland vårdpersonal florerade negativa attityder och brister i förhållningssättet mot personer med självskadebeteende, vilket motverkade deras återhämtning. Vår slutsats är att etiska reflektioner i arbetsgruppen, handledning, stöd, samt utbildningsinsatser till vårdpersonal är angeläget för att öka förståelsen och höja kompetensen angående självskadebeteende; samt för att minska negativa attityder och förbättra omvårdnaden av personer med självskadebeteende på ett sätt som främjar deras återhämtning.

No description available.

Thèse de doctorat présenté en vue de l'obtention du doctorat en psychologie - recherche intervention, option psychologie clinique (Ph.D). / L’automutilation est un problème de santé publique majeur, considéré comme l’un des plus pernicieux et inquiétants auxquels font face les cliniciens et intervenants. Ce type de conduites possède des taux de prévalence et de cooccurrence élevés et est susceptible d’engendrer des conséquences physiques et psychologiques délétères. Par conséquent, au cours de la dernière décennie, l’automutilation a suscité l’intérêt de nombreux chercheurs qui ont tenté de mieux comprendre les facteurs susceptibles de favoriser le recourt à ce type de conduite. À ce sujet, le trait autocritique de la personnalité, de même que les capacités de mentalisation sont des variables reconnues dans la compréhension de l’automutilation. Ces deux variables sont prometteuses parce qu’elles ont le potentiel de renseigner sur les mécanismes sous-tendant l’attaque au corps et d’offrir des leviers thérapeutiques. La présente thèse vise donc à approfondir l’exploration du rôle de l’autocritique et de la mentalisation dans l’automutilation en examinant des pistes de recherche qui n’ont pas encore été empruntées. L’échantillon à l’étude est composé d’étudiants universitaires, chez qui les taux de prévalence de l’automutilation sont particulièrement élevés. Afin de tenir compte de la complexité sous-jacente à l’automutilation, différents angles d’exploration sont abordés dans deux études. La première étude cible le caractère dichotomique de l’automutilation, c’est-à-dire la présence ou l’absence de comportements. L’objectif est d’examiner l’effet combiné de l’autocritique et de la mentalisation sur le risque de s’être automutilé par le passé. Bien que les deux variables aient été associées à l’automutilation, leur interaction n’a jamais encore été explorée. Pour cette étude, 420 étudiants inscrits dans un programme universitaire de premier cycle ont répondu à des questions sur la présence ou l’absence de comportements d’automutilation, ce dans la dernière année et au cours de leur vie. Ils ont aussi répondu au Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, qui évalue la continuité entre les formes normales et pathologiques des composantes autocritique et dépendante de la personnalité, au Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, qui évalue l’importance de deux lacunes de la mentalisation, soit l’hypomentalisation (c.-à-d. une pensée concrète qui se caractérise par la difficulté de former des modèles mentaux complexes relatifs au soi ou aux autres) et l’hypermentalisation (c.-à-d. la formation excessive de représentations mentales de ses actions ou de celles des autres fondées sur des preuves ou indices inexacts), et au Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, visant à évaluer la maltraitance à l’enfance. Les analyses de modération ont permis d’identifier des effets significatifs d’interaction entre l’autocritique et l’importance de deux lacunes de la mentalisation (c.-à-d. hypo- et hypermentalisation) dans le risque de s’être automutilé dans la dernière année. Aucun effet d’interaction n’a été identifié pour la période ciblant l’automutilation au cours de la vie. Les interactions sont demeurées statistiquement significatives en contrôlant pour les effets du sexe, du trait dépendant de la personnalité, et des expériences traumatiques vécues à l’enfance. En mettant en évidence un effet de modération par la mentalisation, ces résultats contribuent à clarifier les conditions dans lesquelles l’autocritique et l’automutilation sont associées. La deuxième étude cerne quant à elle le caractère multidimensionnel de l’automutilation en s’intéressant à ses différentes caractéristiques. Celles-ci sont de plus en plus étudiées en tant que corrélats de la sévérité de l’automutilation puisqu’elles refléteraient des variations dans la sévérité de la morbidité associée à ce type de conduite. La nature de cette étude étant exploratoire, l’objectif est de documenter un ensemble de corrélats potentiels de la sévérité de l’automutilation (fréquence, nombre de méthodes, récence, type de soins requis) en examinant leurs associations avec l’autocritique et la mentalisation, toutes deux identifiées comme des facteurs de vulnérabilité transdiagnostiques associés à la sévérité de la perturbation du fonctionnement et de la détresse psychologique. L’échantillon comprend deux cent quatre étudiants de premier cycle, soit les participants de la première étude ayant un historique d’automutilation. Ceux-ci ont répondu aux mêmes questionnaires pour l’automutilation, l’autocritique et les lacunes de la mentalisation, en plus du Brief Symptom Inventory (échelles de dépression et d’anxiété). Les données ont été soumises à des tests t et à des analyses de variance. Les résultats ont permis d’identifier des associations positives entre les caractéristiques de l’automutilation, d’une part, et les niveaux d’autocritique, l’importance des lacunes de la mentalisation et certains indices cliniques (anxiété, dépression, pensées suicidaires), d’autre part. Ceci renforce la proposition selon laquelle les caractéristiques de l’automutilation peuvent être utilisées comme des indicateurs de la sévérité de la perturbation du fonctionnement et de la détresse psychologiques chez les individus qui s’automutilent. Ces données préliminaires ouvrent aussi la voie à l’exploration de modèles plus complexes du rôle de l’autocritique et de la mentalisation dans les variations au sein des caractéristiques de l’automutilation. De façon générale, les résultats de la présente thèse indiquent que l’automutilation présente des niveaux de sévérité, et que l’autocritique puis des déficits de la mentalisation sont associés à la présence et à la qualité (niveaux de sévérité) de l’automutilation. Ces résultats suggèrent que des interventions visant à améliorer le rapport que l’individu entretient avec lui-même, de même que sa capacité à attribuer une qualité mentale à ses expériences personnelles et interpersonnelles pourraient être pertinentes en contexte de prévention et d’intervention entourant les conduites d’automutilation. / Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant public health issue. It is considered as one of the most concerning and pernicious behavior faced by health professionals. NSSI has high prevalence and cooccurrence rates and can lead to deleterious physical and psychological consequences. This phenomenon therefore has elicited a great deal of empirical and theoretical research in the last decade, as substantial efforts have been directed toward a better understanding of the factors underlying it. Among such factors are self-criticism and mentalizing abilities whose potential to clarify the mechanisms underlying NSSI and to provide therapeutic leverage make them promising variables. The goal of the present thesis is to investigate in more detail the role of self-criticism and mentalizing in NSSI by exploring new research avenues. The study sample consists of university students, a population in which NSSI is alarmingly common. In order to better apprehend the complexity of NSSI, different exploration angles are addressed in two studies. The first study targets the dichotomic nature of NSSI, that is, the presence or absence of the behavior. The objective is to examine the combined effect of self-criticism and mentalizing in the risk of having engaged in NSSI in the past. Although self-criticism and mentalizing have both been associated with NSSI, their interplay in predicting NSSI has never been explored. For this study, four hundred and twenty Canadians undergraduates answered online questions regarding the presence or absence of NSSI, over either the previous year or their lifetime. They also completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, which assesses the continuity between normal and pathological forms of self-criticism and dependency, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, which evaluates the degree of two mentalizing deficits, namely hypomentalizing (i.e., concrete thinking characterized by the difficulty to form nuanced and complex models of the mind relating to the self and others) and hypermentalizing (i.e., excessive mentalizing characterized by the tendency to generate excessively detailed models of the mind of the self and others without accurate evidence to support these models), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which assesses experiences of childhood maltreatment. The moderation analyses showed significant interaction effects between self-criticism and the two mentalizing deficits (i.e. hypo- and hypermentalizing) in the risk of having engaged in NSSI in the previous year. No moderation effects were found for the lifetime period. The results remained statistically significant after adjusting for sex, dependency and childhood traumas. By identifying an interaction between self-criticism and impairments in mentalizing (i.e. hypo- and hypermentalizing) in the occurrence of NSSI, this study contributes to the clarification of the conditions in which self-criticism may be related to NSSI. The second study focuses on the different characteristics of NSSI and therefore targets the multidimensional nature of this behavior. NSSI features are increasingly studied as proxies for NSSI severity, as they relate to variations in the severity of the morbidity associated with this type of behavior. This study is exploratory. Its objective is to cluster and document a set of potential NSSI severity proxies (frequency, number of methods, recency, type of care needed) by examining their associations with self-criticism and mentalizing, which are both identified as transdiagnostic vulnerability factors associated with the severity of psychological distress and functional impairment. For this study, only the students who were recruited in the first study and who had a history of NSSI were selected (N = 204 participants). They completed the same online questionnaires for NSSI, self-criticism and mentalizing, in addition to the Brief Symptom Inventory (depression and anxiety scales). T tests and analyses of variance were conducted. The results show positive associations between NSSI features and self-criticism levels, degrees of mentalizing deficits and clinical indicators (anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts). Those results support the proposition that NSSI characteristics could be used as psychological distress and functional impairment severity indicators in individuals engaging in self-injury. They also open the door to the exploration of more sophisticated models of the role of self-criticism and mentalizing in NSSI characteristics variations. Overall, the results of the present thesis indicate that NSSI presents various severity levels, and that self-criticism and mentalizing deficits are associated with the presence as well as the quality (i.e. severity levels) of NSSI. Those results suggest that interventions aiming at improving an individual’s relationship with himself, as well as his capacity to give a mental quality to his personal and interpersonal experiences could be relevant in NSSI prevention and intervention.

This study centered on adolescent self-mutilation as well as possible forms of support and prevention. The information was gathered by assessing the needs of the adolescent girls who self-mutilate by means of semi-structured interviews. In these interviews the adolescent girls expressed their experiences of self-mutilation and their emotional needs. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the needs of adolescent girls who self-mutilate in order to develop guidelines of support so that parents may feel less helpless and overwhelmed. The findings of the study indicated that there are various reasons why an adolescent would engage in selfmutilation, that it serves a function in the adolescents’ lives and surfaces at times of emotional crisis. This study found further that a lack of problem-solving skills, coping abilities and social skills could play a role in whether an adolescent chooses to self-mutilate. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play therapy)