Bodily Self-Harm and Its Relationship to Childhood Abuse Among Women in a Primary Care Setting

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Abstract
Past research has demonstrated a relationship between childhood abuse and subsequent self-injurious behavior. However, this research typically has taken place in mental health settings, focused on childhood sexual or physical abuse, and has explored a limited number of self-injury variables (most commonly suicide attempts). Among 147 women in a primary care setting, the authors explored the relationship between five forms of childhood abuse or trauma and three types of bodily self-injury. In univariate analyses, all forms of abuse except physical neglect were related to an increased likelihood of bodily self-harm. In a logistic regression analysis, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and witnessing violence were uniquely related to an increased likelihood of bodily self-injury. The results suggest that the direct experience or observation of body violation may developmentally precede subsequent bodily self-injury in some individuals.