Brief report: A network analysis of self-cutting risk among late adolescent girls exposed to dating violence

Abstract

Adolescent self-directed violence (SDV) is a major public health concern. Adolescent girls exposed to dating violence (DV) are a particularly vulnerable group. Numerous studies have examined the number and type of SDV risk factors, but few examined global patterns of relationships among them. Exploring global patterns of risk is crucial to developing targeted prevention efforts. In this study we applied a network model to identify risk patterns for a common form of SDV, self-cutting, among American adolescent girls (N = 109) with history of DV. Risk factor networks were compared among girls who did/did not endorse lifetime self-cutting. Girls with a history of self-cutting (19%) had a risk factor network characterized by a higher number of associations than girls who did not (test statistic = 0.142; 95% CI = 02-.03). For these girls, the experience of one risk factor is more likely to co-occur with multiple others, thereby potentially compounding effects and unwanted consequences.