ABSTRACT
Studying people who self-injure (e.g., cutting) is a sensitive and important topic. Many researchers are concerned that by bringing up the issues surrounding non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) (by virtue of asking these people to participate in studies) could be harmful in and of itself, which is, of course, not the goal. These researchers wanted to systematically evaluate if participating in a study on self-injury was emotionally or behaviorally harmful to those participants. The limited research on the effects of participation in studies of suicidal behavior mirror those found in the trauma literature. In the suicide literature, studies have been restricted to high school screening programs or participants from clinical settings and have focused exclusively on suicidal ideation and attempts. It remains unclear whether the research that has documented minimal risk generalizes to NSSI. There is also emerging evidence that NSSI is socially influenced.
