Deliberate Self-harm in Adolescence: The Impact of Childhood Experiences, Negative Affect and Fears of Compassion

Abstract

Adolescence is a developmental period of significantly risk for self-harm (SH). This paper aims to analyse the associations between experiences of threat and submissiveness in childhood, positive and negative affect, fears of compassion and SH behaviours. Furthermore, it aims to explore the relative contribution of early experiences of threat and submissiveness, negative affect and fears of compassion to the prediction of the severity of SH. Participants were 831 adolescents, aged between 13-18 years old, from schools in centre region of Portugal. Results show that personal feelings of threat and submissiveness, negative affect, fear of compassion for self and gender significantly predict SH. These results suggest that adolescents with deliberate SH have not only difficulties in dealing with negative emotions, but also fear of compassion towards the self. These findings emphasize the potential value of incorporating self-compassion approaches and addressing the fears of compassion in the treatment of SH in adolescents.