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Non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempt: A continuum or separated identities?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

L. Cammisa*
Affiliation:
Department Of Human Neuroscience, Section Of Child And Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
S. Pacifici
Affiliation:
Department Of Human Neuroscience, Section Of Child And Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
D. Alunni Fegatelli
Affiliation:
Public Health And Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
D. Calderoni
Affiliation:
Department Of Human Neuroscience, Section Of Child And Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
F. Fantini
Affiliation:
Department Of Human Neuroscience, Section Of Child And Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
M. Ferrara
Affiliation:
Department Of Human Neuroscience, Section Of Child And Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
A. Terrinoni
Affiliation:
Department Of Human Neuroscience, Section Of Child And Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been proposed as diagnostic entity and was added in the section 3 of the DSM 5. However, little is known about the long-term course of the disorder: NSSI and suicide attempt (SA) often lie on a continuum of self-harm, but it’s still unclear if they represent two different nosografical entities. Both these groups are commonly enclosed in the term of Deliberate self-harm (DSH), also including self-harm with suicidal intent conditions.

Objectives

This study aims to explore differences between two clinical samples (NSSI and SA) to highlight the possible connection between these two categories, to better understand the risk of progression from NNSI into suicidal intent conditions.

Methods

102 inpatients with DSH (62 NNSI; 40 SA; age range: 12 to 18 years) were assessed by self-report questionnaires: the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI) and the Repetitive Non-suicidal Self-Injury Questionnaire (R-NSSI-Q) to explore the severity and repetitiveness of self-injurious behaviors and by the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency scale (MAST), as indirect measures of suicidal risk.

Results

Preliminary results showed that inpatients with NSSI (62) presented high scores of indirect suicide risk, similar to SA sample (40).

Conclusions

This result highlights the possibility to consider NSSI and SA in a continuum of psychopathology and that repetitive self-harm even in the absence of clear suicidal intentions represent a significant risk factor in the development of suicidality in adolescence.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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