The prevalence of Non-suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) among high school students in relation to age and sex.

OBJECTIVES The undertaken research aimed at determining the frequency of deliberate self-injurious behaviour (D-SIB) among the students of secondary schools and also the analysis of the frequency of repeated Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) occurrences in accordance with DSM-5 criteria in reference to the age and sex in the studied population. METHODS The data was collected via survey method according to the questionnaire prepared in compliance with the criteria DSM-5 and Self-Harm Inventory. The study included randomly selected students: 1193 boys and 1027 girls in Bialystok aged 12 and 19 (average age ± SD:16.8 ± 1.65). Statistical analysis of the data was carried out using the application Statistica 10.0 PL, StatSoft. RESULTS These results indicate that D-SIB and NSSI affect both sexes. In the studied group 8.3 % of students engage in deliberate self-injurious behaviour. The percentage of NSSI was 4.8% (6.3% in the group of boys, 3.2 % among girls; p(Chi2)=0.01). Self-cutting was most common among 15-year-old pupils ((D-SIB:14.75%; NNSI:8.1%). The majority of respondents (82% of girls and 74% of boys) revealed that as a result of self-injury behaviour they experience relief. CONCLUSIONS Conducting further research in the area of NSSI seems to be crucial due to chronicity and prevalence as well as the fact that numerous repeated self-injuries bringing relief or causing positive state of mind might indicate a mechanism similar to an addiction syndrome in adolescence.

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