Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that parasuicide (deliberate self-harm) should be considered in terms of ‘normal’ rather than ‘abnormal’ behaviour. This study aimed to address this assertion by applying a social cognition model, for the first time, to parasuicidal behaviour. An extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model was tested on 55 individuals drawn from hospital and non-hospital populations. Thirty-eight percent of the sample (n=21) reported a history of deliberate self-harm. Findings supported the utility of the TPB: attitudes, subjective norm, self-efficacy, moral norm and anticipated affect discriminated significantly between those with and without a history of parasuicide. The extended TPB explained more than 50% of the variance associated with intentions to deliberately self-harm. These findings have considerable theoretical and practical implications for intervention. Future research should investigate the utility of the TPB employed within a prospective framework.
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O’Connor, R.C., Armitage, C.J. Theory of planned behaviour and parasuicide: An exploratory study. Curr Psychol 22, 196–205 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-003-1016-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-003-1016-4