Citation

Nijman HL, Dautzenberg M, Merckelbach HL, Jung P, Wessel I, del Campo JA. Eur. Psychiatry 1999; 14(1): 4-10.

Affiliation

Psychiatric Hospital Welterhof, Heerlen, 6401 CX Heerlen, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10572319

Abstract

In the present study two broad hypotheses about the origins of self-mutilation in psychiatric patients were evaluated. The first hypothesis states that self-mutilation originates from child abuse and experiences of neglect and is connected to dissociation in later life. The second hypothesis views self-mutilation as the consequence of impulse control problems. To test these two hypotheses, data concerning traumatic childhood experiences and dissociative symptoms (hypothesis 1), as well as data concerning aggressiveness, obsessive-compulsiveness and sensation seeking (hypothesis 2) were collected in a sample of 54 psychiatric inpatients. Twenty-four out of 54 patients (44%) reported having engaged in self-mutilation. Mean age of onset of this behaviour was 23 years. Self-report measures of self-mutilators were more in line with the first than with the second hypothesis. That is, patients who engaged in self-mutilation reported more traumatic childhood experiences and dissociative symptoms than did control patients. The two groups did not differ in terms of aggressiveness, obsessive-compulsiveness, and sensation seeking. In line with earlier studies, the current results indicate that self-mutilating behaviour is linked to a history of abuse and neglect.

Language: en