@article{ref1,
title="Discovering one's own way: adolescent girls' different pathways into and out of self-harm",
journal="Journal of adolescent research",
year="2020",
author="Stänicke, Line Indrevoll and Haavind, Hanne and Rø, Frida Gullestad and Gullestad, Siri Erika",
volume="35",
number="5",
pages="605-634",
abstract="Self-harm is associated with mental illness and suicide risk. The present study aims to increase knowledge of adolescent girls' pathways into and out of self-harm. The participants were 19 girls, 13 to 18 years of age, who were strategically selected from an outpatient care unit. A naturalistic multiple case study was done with personal interviews. The interviews were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, and the capacity for &quot;mentalization&quot;--representation of behavior in terms of mental states--was measured with the Reflective Functioning Scale. The analysis of the topic &quot;beginning self-harm&quot; resulted in two meta-themes: (a) beginning self-harm as a way to handle difficult feelings and relational problems and (b) becoming influenced by peers to experiment with self-harm. The analysis of the topic &quot;quitting self-harm&quot; resulted in three meta-themes: (a) ambivalence toward help, treatment, and ending self-harm; (b) finding one's own way of quitting self-harm; and (c) exploring self-harm together with the therapist. Three case stories illustrate variations in trajectories of change and capacity for mentalization. The findings suggest that self-harm may be a way of handling developmental challenges in autonomy and identity formation during adolescence. Adolescents need an opportunity to discover their own way of quitting self-harm. Variations in mentalization may provide for different pathways.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0743-5584",
doi="10.1177/0743558419883360",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0743558419883360"
}