Abstract
Adolescents have high rates of self-injurious behavior (SIB), with suicide being the second leading cause of death. A consistent relationship between individual attachment and SIB was previously found in adult population; however, no such review has been undertaken for the child and adolescent population. A systematic search of PubMED, OVID, and PsychINFO up to March 31, 2020 was performed. Twenty-two articles met the inclusion criteria. Of the 22 articles, 21 found a positive association between attachment insecurity and SIB. Our results show a consistent relationship between attachment insecurity and SIB in children and adolescents, complementing the results found in the adult literature. These findings make a case for preventive strategies aimed at reducing self-injurious behaviors in youth by targeting attachment security.
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The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Jennifer Woo
Jennifer Woo, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan (Regina Campus), Regina, SK, Canada.
Andrew J. Wrath
Andrew J. Wrath and G. Camelia Adams, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
G. Camelia Adams
Andrew J. Wrath and G. Camelia Adams, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.