Self-Harming Behaviors and Psychopathy Traits in Abused Children

Abstract

This study aimed to explore child abuse and neglect in relation to psychopathy and self-harming behaviors. A cross-sectional correlational research design was used to carry out the research. A sample of 100 children (50 boys & 50 girls) was selected at age ranging from 12-18 years through purposive sampling. The data was collected from two NGOs in Lahore through purposive sampling. An adapted and translated Child Abuse Screening Tool was used to identify children with different levels and types of abuse and neglect. Urdu version of the Youth Psychopathy Inventory was used to find out psychopathy traits. The deliberate Self-Harm Inventory was translated into Urdu for the purpose of assessing self-harm behavior in participants along with a demographic questionnaire. Pearson product-moment correlation showed there was no significant relationship between psychopathy and child abuse. It was identified that there were no significant gender differences between psychopathy traits and self-harming behaviors in abused children. The current study is significant because it addresses the pressing public issue prevailing in the country day by day, and it has a negative impact on the victim’s survival. The findings revealed that child abuse leads victims towards self-harm and can develop psychopathic traits. On the basis of results, further study is needed to be conducted on these variables, as self-harm was more reported in abused children as compared to psychopathic traits. The variables used in this study needed to be addressed broadly to evaluate the clear impact of abuse in this study, the limitation was the availability of limited data due to the sensitivity of the topic or legal issues that could be addressed in future studies.