title: Adolescent psychiatric inpatients' self-reported reasons for cutting themselves.
abstract: To ascertain (1) whether male and female adolescent (13-17 years old) psychiatric inpatients endorse comparable reasons for cutting themselves and (2) whether these reasons are correlated with selected psychosocial characteristics of the adolescents, self-reported depression, and hopelessness, the Self-Injury Motivation Scale II (SIMS-II), the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale were administered to 19 (38%) male and 31 (62%) female adolescents who had cut themselves. Independent t tests found that none of the SIMS-II subscale scores was differentiated by sex, but the Beck Depression Inventory-II total score was significantly correlated with the SIMS-II total, Affect Modulation, Desolation, and Punitive Duality subscale scores. The results are discussed as indicating that male and female adolescent inpatients endorse comparable reasons for cutting themselves and that self-reported depression is positively associated with the number and intensity of different motivations for cutting oneself.
authors.affiliation: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Stratford, New Jersey 08084-1391, USA.
authors.forename: Geetha
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Deanna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pepe
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Steer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D022125:Lacerations / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D009042:Motivation; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires