Conducta autolesiva no suicida en adolescentes y su relación con factores personales y contextuales

Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents and its relationship with personal and contextual factors. Epidemiological studies in mental health indicate an increase in the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury behaviors in adolescents. However, few studies in Latin America have explored this problematic behavior in depth. Through two studies using a mixed methodology, this work consisted in characterizing self-injury and in identifying associated clinical variables in a sample of 1,517 adolescents and 43 patients. Additionally, the mediator effect of sensation seeking in the relationship between family attachment and self-injury was assessed. The quantitative results indicate a relationship between self-injury and personal and contextual variables such as impulsivity, sensation seeking and family dynamics. Qualitative analysis indicates that self-injury was present in comorbidity with other complex problematics at the affective, social, academic and familiar levels of the participants. The relevance of the results is discussed as to clinical context.