THE ROLE OF NEGATIVE EMOTION, ALEXITHYMIA, AND INTERPERSONAL FACTORS IN PREDICTING SELF-HARM BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENTS: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

Self-injury behavior is one of the most common behaviors, especially in
adolescent girls. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of negative emotions, alexithymia,
and interpersonal relationships in predicting self-harm behaviors among high school female students in
the city of Sarab.
Materials & Methods: The subjects were 285 female students from 9th grade up to university level who
were selected by random cluster sampling. The instruments used in this study include self-injury
inventory, Beck Depression Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, Ang's and Huan's Academic
Expectations Stress Inventory, Parent-Child Relationship Scale, and the relationship with peers. Out of
285 students, 270 students completed the questionnaire completely and 15 of them were excluded due
to incomplete responses. The present study was correlational and descriptive indexes, Pearson
correlation test, and regression analysis were used for data analysis.
Results: The results showed that negative emotions such as depression and academic stress, alexithymia
and interpersonal relationships have a significant relationship with self-harm behaviors (P<0. 01). Also,
the results of multiple regression analysis showed that depression variables, academic stress, and mood
formation can significantly explain 42% of intentional self-harm behaviors in adolescents (P<0. 01).
Also, the relationship with parents and peers can explain 17% of intentional self-harm behaviors in
adolescents (P<0. 01).
Conclusion: The results of this study are important in designing prevention programs for self-harm
behaviors among adolescent and helping psychologists and counselors in promoting therapeutic
interventions