Decision-making in adolescent females who deliberately self-harm
Self-harming behaviour most commonly begins in adolescence and is more frequent among adolescent females. We explored the hypothesis that adolescent females who deliberately selfharm were more likely to perform worse on a decision-making task. Previous research in adolescents who self-harm...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Drustvo Psihologa Srbije
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Psihologija |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0048-5705/2016/0048-57051601087R.pdf |
| Summary: | Self-harming behaviour most commonly begins in adolescence and is more
frequent among adolescent females. We explored the hypothesis that adolescent
females who deliberately selfharm were more likely to perform worse on a
decision-making task. Previous research in adolescents who self-harm reported
impaired decision-making. However, research put little emphasis on older
adolescents and the emotional learning. In our research, we presented the
Iowa Gambling Task to 35 adolescent females who self-harmed and were treated
at a psychiatric clinic, and to 35 healthy female controls. Our results show
that in comparison to the control group the adolescents who self-harm took
more risky decisions and were less concerned about the outcome. In addition,
the clinical group also focused more on immediate gains and showed a reduced
ability to learn from poor decisions in the past. Further research is
suggested to explore the potential neurological correlates of decision-making
and selfharming behaviour. |
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| ISSN: | 0048-5705 1451-9283 |