igher levels of depression and anxiety and lower levels of self-esteem, optimism about life, and coping behaviors than did non-mutilators.
Sullivan (2003) suggested that among adolescents, self-cutting may indicate the emergence of repressed feelings and signal an evolving desire to express and process those feelings. This same researcher noted that self-cutting is frequently a repeated behavior among adolescents who are often reluctant to commit to therapy in the beginning stages of the behavior. However, Sullivan (2003) stated that most self-cutting among adolescents is neither a suicide attempt nor an artifact of suicidal ideation. In fact, only 0.5 percent of self-cutters commit suicide.
Ross and Heath (2002) explored the frequency of self-mutilation in a community sample of adolescents using preliminary epidemiological data with a sample of high school students. A total of 440 students from either an urban or suburban high school were given a screening measure to assess for self-mutilation. Students indicating that they hurt themselves deliberately participated in a follow-up interview. It was found that 13.9 percent of all students reported having engaged in some self-mutilating behavior, with girls reporting significantly higher rates of the phenomenon than males (64 percent versus 36 percent respectively. Ross and Heath (2002) found self-cutting to be the most common type of the behavior and that self-mutilating students reported significantly more anxiety and depressive symptomology than non-self-mutilating subjects.
A study by Nichols (2000) maintains that self-mutilation is beginning to achieve epidemic proportions and that there appears to be an association among female adolescent self-mutilators and lower self-esteem along with higher rates of anxiety, depression, bulimia, and other mental health problems. In this same general context, Ross and Heath (2003) examined two models which attempt to explain ...