Why do adolescents and young people self-harm? Factors that maintain self-harming behavior

27.6% of European adolescents report that they have intentionally harmed themselves at least once in their lives (Brunner et al., 2014).

But why do they tend to continue this behavior once they start self-harming? There are four aspects that must be taken into account to explain why an adolescent has difficulty stopping self-harming .

1. Negative reinforcement. The adolescent may have learned that this behavior is an effective short-term way to avoid negative emotions (anxiety, sadness, guilt, anger, hopelessness, etc.), which cause him great psychological discomfort, or to achieve apparently effective emotional regulation in the moments when these emotions appear. In this case, the objective of self-harm is to avoid or disconnect from what generates intense emotional pain, focusing attention on the bodily harm and not on those aspects of his person that generate suffering.
2. Positive social reinforcement . The adolescent may have learned that when he performs this behavior he obtains a much greater and immediate level of social attention or social reinforcement from his peer group or adults than he obtains with other adapted behaviors or when he does not self-harm. In other words, he feels that this behavior produces social changes perceived as positive by him (for example, he perceives that he obtains more signs of affection, support and group acceptance since he self-harms).
3. The elicitation of environmental changes . The adolescent may have learned that when carrying out this behavior, changes occur in their environment that are favorable for them to feel good and that are to their liking. The reinforcement achieved with self-harm, in this case, is not social attention from others, but reactive secondary benefits from the environment (for example, since they self-harm, adults decide that they do not have to continue facing demands typical of their age, such as going to high school and taking exams, or they are exempt from assuming responsibilities).
4. The construction of identity . The adolescent can find in this behavior a form of identity and sense of group belonging. In this case, with this behavior he transmits an ideology of life or identifies with urban subcultures (for example, the emo subculture); or expresses philosophical, emotional discourses, which transmit a tragic vision of human existence. In this case, self-harm is usually carried out in a group context and is socially reinforced by the rest of the people who participate in this form of identity.