Association of training on attitudes towards self-injuring clients across health professionals.
The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between self-injury training and attitudes across different health care professions. In the study, 342 psychologists, social workers, psychiatric, and medical nurses were recruited from 12 hospitals in Belgium. Participants completed a confidential questionnaire assessing attitudes, perceived knowledge/competence in self-injury, and prior self-injury training. Professionals with training reported more positive empathy, less negative attitudes, and greater perceived knowledge/competence, which was related to positive attitudes. Mental health providers had more positive attitudes than medical professionals.


CONCLUSIONS
Attitudes towards self-injuring patients are multifaceted and vary across health professions. Training on self-injury should be incorporated into the educational curriculum of all health care professions.
a Department of Psychology , University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire , Eau Claire , Wisconsin , USA.
Jennifer J
JJ
Muehlenkamp
Laurence
L
Claes
Katherine
K
Quigley
Emily
E
Prosser
Steffie
S
Claes
Dorien
D
Jans
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001530:Belgium; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000193:education; D011584:Psychology / Q000193:education; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior; D012947:Social Work / Q000193:education; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult