ABSTRACT
The enormous lacunae in our current understanding of self-harm provide a research agenda for future directions in the study of suicidal self-injury and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). This article outlines some of the most important future directions in this effort. Most of the epidemiologic research on both suicidal self-injury and NSSI that has been done has focused on adult samples, and much less is known about the epidemiology of self-harm among children and adolescents. Given the apparent increases in self-harm during adolescence, there is a strong need for more detailed information about the occurrence of self-harm during this developmental period. The ultimate goal of research on self-harm is to prevent it from occurring. Unfortunately, there currently are no evidence-based methods available for treating or preventing adolescent suicidal self-injury or NSSI. One vital direction for future research is to improve our ability to predict self-harm.
