The Relation Of Adolecents' Self-Harm Behaviors, Individual Emotion Characteristics And Family Environment Factors

Self-harm behavior is especially prevalent among adolescents. Determinant factors and mechanisms in adolescents' self-harm behavior have been always the important question concerned by adolescents' psychopathology research in abroad. Basing on previous studies, we discover that individual characteristics factors and family environmental factors are ofen seen as determinants of self-harm behavior development. Individual characteristics factors have directly influence on the process of self-harm behavior formation, and mediate/moderate family contextual factors' influence on self-harm behavior. So, this study explored two determinants of individual factors: emotion dysregulation, Alexithymia and two kinds of family contextual factors: Childhood neglect(safe neglect, communion neglect, affection neglect, physical neglect), Childhood abuse (physical abuse,verbal abuse,sexual abuse), and tested the independent and conjoint effects of family contextual factors and individual characteristics on self-harm behavior.This study have three studies. The purpose of the first sub-study was to modify Adolescents Self-Harm Scale. A total of 165 adolescents coming from Wuhan were invited to join the study. The purpose of the second sub-study was to explore risk fators of self-harm behaviors, 77 Gong Du Shengs and 99 Juvenile delinquents coming from Wuhan were invited to join the study. The purpose of the third sub-study was to explore the effects of family contextual factors and individual characteristics on self-harm behaviors.340 common adolescents and 115 Juvenile delinquents coming from Wuhan were invited to join the study. Results showed that:1. The modified version of Adolescents Self-Harm Scale has 19 items. The findings indicate that the DSHS has high internal consistency, adequate criterion-related, convergent, and discriminant validity.2. The Juvenile delinquents were found to have higher score on frequency and destruction degree of self-harm than common adolescents.3. Emotion dysregulation and Alexithymia have strongly positive effect on adolescents self-harm.4. Physical neglect, affection neglect, physical abuse, verbal abuse and sexual abuse have strongly positive effect on adolescents self-harm.5. Besides direct effect on self-harm, affection neglect has indirect effect on the self-harm by the mediation role of emotion dysregulation and alexithymia. Verbal abuse has indirect effect on the self-harm by the mediation role of emotion dysregulation. Besides direct effect on self-harm, sexual neglect has indirect effect on the self-harm by the mediation role of alexithymia.