Introduction: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) has a big impact on a person’s life and has increased in the last decade. DSH can be used to communicate in a different way, explain how someone is feeling,...Show moreIntroduction: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) has a big impact on a person’s life and has increased in the last decade. DSH can be used to communicate in a different way, explain how someone is feeling, manage, regulate or escape from overwhelming emotions and cope with stressors in daily life. Insecure attachment among individuals is more likely to be a risk factor to develop DSH. Of the different form of insecure attachment fearful attachment appears to be most related to DSH. This study examines whether insecure attachment is related to more deliberate self-harming behavior. Method: DSH behavior and attachment styles were crosssectionally assed using an online self-report survey among a sample from the general population (N= 391). A regression model and a non-dimensional Kruskal-Wallis test were used to assess the data. Results: A significant association between insecure attachment and DSH was found, and in addition the result of the Kruskal-Wallis showed a significant association between the different attachment styles and DSH. According to the MannWhitney U-test attachment styles in this sample differed from each other with the highest score on fearful attachment. Discussion: this study shows an association between insecure attachment and DSH and fearful attachment appears to be most strongly related to DSH which is in line with former studies. More research is needed to examine this topic as there appears to be a DSH increase among individuals. Furthermore, it is necessary to broaden this study among the normal population.Show less
