Stigma towards individuals who self harm: impact of gender and disclosure

Abstract

Purpose: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is reasonably common, particularly among young people with prevalence rates of up to 25 per cent reported. Many factors contribute towards NSSI, including depression, anxiety and history of abuse and NSSI is a risk factor for suicide. Many people who engage in NSSI do not seek help, potentially due to concern about sigmatising attitudes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of gender and disclosure on stigmatising attitudes towards individuals who engage in NSSI. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were 384 first-year university students (77.4 per cent female; mean age 19.50 years (SD=3.53)) who completed measures of stigmatisi..