title: Psychological, interpersonal, and behavioral correlates of chronic self-destructiveness: an exploratory study.
abstract: In this study, we selected individuals high and low on a measure of chronic self-destructiveness--the tendency to perform behaviors that later reduce positive consequences and increase the probability of experiencing negative ones--and attempted to differentiate high and low scorers based on a set of hypothesized antecedent and concurrent psychological, interpersonal, and behavioral correlates. Men and women were equally represented in high- and low-scoring groups. High scorers reported experiencing more interpersonal exploitation, greater depression, lower self-esteem, more externalizing attitudes, and less control in relationships than low scorers. High-scoring individuals also engaged in more frequent acts of acute self-destructiveness, including attempted suicide. A significant age covariate effect emerged: high-scoring men and women were younger than low-scoring individuals. These findings underscore the importance of studying chronic self-destructiveness within a developmental framework and suggest that issues of safety and self-care may be particularly germane to educational and clinical interventions aimed at young adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts--Boston 02125-3393, USA.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Boudewyn
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Liem
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012933:Social Identification