Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been defined as “the deliberate, self-inflicted destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent and for purposes not socially sanctioned, [which] includes behaviors such as cutting, burning, biting and scratching skin” (International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, 2007). It is a maladaptive behavior occurring frequently among adolescents and young adults, and striving to prevent it is acknowledged as an important incentive. At this point in time, there is a well-established relationship between emotion regulation and NSSI, in the way that NSSI is often used as a means of handling or coping with emotions. However, there is a possible view of NSSI as a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy, resulting from an insecure attachment, which has not been adequately addressed/investigated/discussed in the current literature/which is quite new to the field. Thus, this review will serve the purpose of integrating the research on NSSI as an emotion regulation-strategy, with the research on insecure attachment as a risk factor for NSSI. Furthermore, it will investigate the empirical support for …show more content…
Not only are the characteristics of the parent-child attachment considered to be somewhat changeable (?) as the child grows older, but new attachment bonds to peers and romantic partners also become increasingly valuable as the child moves into adolescence and young adulthood. For example, Levesque et al. (REF) found that both NSSI thoughts and behaviors were related to romantic attachment. This has two considerable implications; first, to look beyond the parent-infant attachment bond, and investigate attachment to peers and romantic partners as well, and second, to not rely on retrospective attachment measures, as there is a possibility of change due to life