@article{ref1,
title="Self-injurious behaviour in patients with anorexia nervosa: a quantitative study",
journal="Journal of eating disorders",
year="2018",
author="Smithuis, Linda and Kool-Goudzwaard, Nienke and de Man-van Ginkel, Janneke M. and van Os-Medendorp, Harmieke and Berends, Tamara and Dingemans, Alexandra and Claes, Laurence and van Elburg, Annemarie A. and van Meijel, Berno",
volume="6",
number="",
pages="e26-e26",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Many patients with an eating disorder report difficulties in regulating their emotions and show a high prevalence of self-injurious behaviour. Several studies have stated that both eating disorder and self-injurious behaviour help emotion regulation, and are thus used as coping mechanisms for these patients. We aimed to determine the prevalence of self-injurious behaviour, its characteristics and its emotion-regulation function in patients with anorexia nervosa or an eating disorder not otherwise specified (<i>n</i> = 136). <br><br>METHODS: A cross-sectional design using a self-report questionnaire. Mann-Whitney <i>U</i>-tests were conducted to compare the background and clinical variables between patients with self-injurious behaviour and patients without this type of behaviour. Changes in emotional state before and after self-injurious behaviour were tested by Wilcoxon signed rank tests. <br><br>RESULTS: Our results showed a 41% prevalence of self-injurious behaviour in the previous month. Patients who performed self-injurious behaviour had a statistically significant longer treatment history for their eating disorder than those who did not. Whereas 55% of self-injuring patients had a secondary psychiatric diagnosis, only 21% of participants without self-injurious behaviour did. Regarding the impact of self-injurious behaviour, our results showed a significant increase in &quot;feeling relieved&quot; and a significant decrease in &quot;feeling angry at myself&quot;, &quot;feeling anxious&quot; and &quot;feeling angry at others&quot;. This indicates that self-injurious behaviour can be regarded as an emotion-regulation behaviour. Participants were usually aware of the causes of their self-injurious behaviour acts. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Professionals should systematically assess the occurrence of self-injurious behaviour in eating disorder patients, pay special attention to patients with more severe and comorbid psychopathology, and those with a long treatment history. This assessment should be followed by a functional analysis of the self-injurious behaviour and by effective therapeutic interventions alongside the eating disorder treatment.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2050-2974",
doi="10.1186/s40337-018-0214-2",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40337-018-0214-2"
}