Hurting to Cope: Self-Injurious Behavior as an Escape from Self-Focus

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a prevalent problem in today’s society and is estimated to affect 4% of the general population (Darche, 1990; Nock & Prinstein, 2004). SIB has been described as a form of coping (Fliege et al., 2006) and a means of escaping negative feelings (Barrera, Violo & Graver, 2007; Nock & Prinstein, 2004), however it has not been examined within the framework of Baumeister’s escape-style-coping theory (Baumeister, 1991a; 1991b). In addition, although escape-style-coping theory has been linked with self-focused temperament (Spievak, 2003), SIB has not been examined in relation to chronic self-focus. It was hypothesized that those individuals who reported self-injury would also be high in self-focus and report other related escape-style-coping behaviors. The results of two studies supported a positive correlation between self-injury and self-focus and related escape-style-coping behaviors