Gender specific functional characteristics of non-suicidal self-injury among patients with current suicide

BACKGROUND: Literature reports that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) presents differently across both genders, in terms of chronicity, method, frequency and functions. However, gender-specific studies that focus on functions of NSSI in the Indian population are comparatively scarce. The study aimed to explore various functions that influenced NSSI behaviour among psychiatric inpatients across the genders in a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: Over a period of 1 year 100 consecutive patients admitted with suicide attempt were interviewed of which 36 had history of NSSI. Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Assessment Tool (NSSI-AT) was administered to these patients to assess NSSI frequency, method, and functions. Demographic details, frequency and form of self-injury, and functions of NSSI behaviour was recorded and compared between both genders. RESULTS: Age (P=0.005), education (P=0.02), age of first cessation (P=0.02), frequency (P=0.02), and type of NSSI (P=0.007) were significantly different between male and female patients with NSSI. Most of the functions of NSSI i.e., affective imbalance (low and high pressure), social communication and expression scale, self-retribution and deterrence scale, sensation-seeking scale were significantly different between male and female suicide attempters with NSSI and were also found to correlate positively with the frequency of NSSI. CONCLUSIONS: Overall the study demonstrates that functional characteristics of NSSI behaviour differ significantly between the genders. Hence, the current study emphasizes the need for development of measures to prevent NSSI behaviour specific to the functional characteristics across the genders.