Assessing self-injurious behaviors on a college campus

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence, as well as perceived positive and negative consequences, of a wide range of risky and self-injurious behaviors (SIB). Participants were 215 undergraduate students (56.3% female), who were administered the Self-Injurious Behavior Risk Assessment (SIBRA), which was designed for this study; and the Eysenck Impulsiveness Scale (EIS; Eysenck, 1985). To compare behaviors viewed as having benefits which outweigh risks, a reward/risk ratio was rank ordered. Correlations were computed between item-total frequency, perceived consequences, the reward/risk ratio, and the EIS. Results found a variety of behaviors being endorsed by students, as well as eleven significant gender differences. Perceived benefits, gender, impulsiveness, venturesomeness, and empathy were all found to be related to SIB