Two models of adolescent self-mutilation

Currently little research exists examining the theoretical underpinnings of self-mutilation (SM) in community samples of adolescents. Two models, the hostility and anxiety reduction models, were simultaneously tested in order to determine whether SM in adolescence was characterized by greater feelings of anxiety and hostility. Four hundred and forty students were screened for the presence of SM. Sixty-one students who indicated that they hurt themselves as well as a comparison group of non-SM students completed the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and an interview. Results indicate support for the hostility model of SM. Students who SM reported significantly more anxiety and more intropunitive and extrapunitive hostility. In addition, prior to self-mutilating feelings of both hostility and anxiety were described. Results are discussed with reference to both theoretical models.