Self-injury anl self capacities: Assisting an individual in crisis

This article reports findings of a study on self-injury. childhood abuse, a nd self capacities that supports a theory for understanding and assisting s elf-injuring individuals in crisis. In the study. 233 adults from partial h ospital settings and an outpatient clinic answered questions concerning sel f-injury, abuse history, and three self capacities (the ability to tolerate strong affect, the ability to maintain a sense of self-worth, and the abil ity to maintain a sense of connection to others). More than 60% reported ch ildhood abuse. More than half reported self-injury. individuals with a hist ory of self-injury showed greater impairment of self capacities than indivi duals who did nor report self-injury. Individuals with a history of childho od abuse showed greater impairment than did individuals who did not report childhood abuse. Greatest impairment was associated with both self-injury a nd abuse. Implications of the results are explored and the theory for assis ting self-injuring individuals in crisis is presented. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, inc.