Distinguishing adolescents who think about self-harm from those who engage in self-harm
Open accessAbstract
Background: Adolescent self-harm is a major public health concern, yet little is known about the factors that distinguish adolescents who think about self-harm but do not act on these thoughts from those who act on such thoughts. Aims: Within a new theoretical model, the integrated motivational–volitional model, we investigated factors associated with adolescents having thoughts of self-harm (ideators) v. those associated with self-harm enaction (enactors). Method: Observational study of school pupils employing an anonymous self-report survey to compare three groups of adolescents: self-harm enactors ( n = 628) v. self-harm ideators ( n = 675) v. those without any self-harm history ( n = 4219). Results: Enactors differed from ideators on all of the volitional factors. Relative to ideators, enactors were more likely to have a family member/close friend who had self-harmed, more likely to think that their peers engaged in self-harm and they were more impulsive than the ideators. Enactors also reported more life stress than ideators. Conversely, the two self-harm groups did not differ on any of the variables associated with the development of self-harm thoughts. Conclusions: As more adolescents think about self-harm than engage in it, a better understanding of the factors that govern behavioural enaction is crucial in the effective assessment of the risk of self-harm.
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Research has been supportive of the utility of VMs for differentiating between adolescents with self-harm ideation and those who enact the behaviour.
“research has been supportive of the utility of VMs for differentiating between adolescents with self-harm ideation and those who enact the behaviour [64]”
From The integrated motivational–volitional model of suicidal behaviour (2018) · cites this paper as [64]
This study adds to the growing literature highlighting the importance of the volitional phase factors within the IMV model and the ideation-to-action framework more generally.
“This study adds to the growing literature highlighting the importance of the volitional phase factors within the IMV model (e.g., O'Connor et al., 2012; Dhingra et al., 2015) and the ideation-to-action framework more generally (Klonsky et al., 2017).”
From From ideation to action: Differentiating between those who think about suicide and those who attempt suicide in a national study of young adults (2018) · cites this paper as O'Connor et al., 2012
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Self-citation
- Authors
- O'Connor, R. C., Rasmussen, S., & Hawton, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- Warneford Hospital (GB)
- ORCID
- Rasmussen, Susan
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2012-04
- Volume
- 200
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 330-335
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2094556310
- Cited by
- 192
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 10.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
- Keywords
- adolescent self-harm, self-harm ideation, integrated motivational-volitional model, impulsivity, life events, peer influence, risk assessment
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Female, Humans, Ireland, Male, Risk Factors, Scotland, Self-Injurious Behavior, Self Report
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