Media advisory: Princeton researcher available to discuss new study on students who hurt themselves through self-injurious behaviors

By Chad Boutin on June 5, 2006, 12:15 a.m.

A ground-breaking new study on self-injurious behavior conducted by Princeton and Cornell University researchers has revealed that cutting, biting and other behaviors are prevalent among college students, particularly those who have been emotionally abused.

The study, which is to be released in the June issue of the journal "Pediatrics," is one of the first and also the largest U.S. study on how common self-injurious behaviors are among college students. Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is defined as inflicting harm to one's body without the obvious intent of committing suicide.

Dr. Daniel Silverman, Princeton's chief medical officer and executive director of University Health Services, was one of three researchers who conducted the survey of 3,069 students that served as the basis for the study. The research was led by Janis Whitlock, director of the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior within the Family Life Development Center (FLDC) at Cornell. The third researcher was John Eckenrode, professor and director of the FLDC at Cornell's College of Human Ecology.

"Our hope is that this study will raise awareness among all members of the higher-education community that self injurious behavior may be a serious problem for certain college students who are experiencing psychological distress," Silverman said. "Perhaps the most important message is that medical and mental health clinicians, faculty, coaches, mentors, administrators, parents and friends should not hesitate to ask students struggling with severe stress whether they are relying upon self injury as a way of trying to reduce tension or to cope with painful feelings. Students often feel relief and more free to talk about their psychological distress when a caring person asks if they are feeling bad enough to hurt themselves.”

To learn more about the findings, view the full news release on Cornell's news site on June 5.

Dr. Daniel Silverman is available for comment at (609) 258-2300. Please contact Nicola Pytell at Cornell at (607) 351-3548 or nwp2@cornell.edu to receive an embargoed copy of the release or to speak to Whitlock or Eckenrode.



Related Stories

Quiet 'epidemic' of drugs, alcohol and suicide has killed half a million middle-aged white Americans .

Despite advances in health care and quality of life, white middle-aged Americans have seen overall mortality rates increase over the past 15 years, representing an overlooked "epidemic" with deaths comparable to the number of Americans who have died of AIDS, according to new Princeton University research.  

Mental health declining among disadvantaged American adults .

American adults of low socioeconomic status report increasing mental distress and worsening well-being, according to a new study by Princeton and Georgetown universities.

Research Notes - Fall 2006 .

Emphasizing consensus about safety boosts support for vaccines .

Highlighting the consensus among medical scientists that childhood vaccines are safe shows promise as a way to increase public support for vaccination, according to new research.

Mental illness treatment varies widely among American adolescents within and across ZIP codes .

Using a national database of insurance claims, Princeton University researchers investigated the type of treatment adolescents — most of whom were around the average age of 12 and suffering from anxiety or depression — receive after a first episode of mental illness. Less than half of children received any therapy within three months, and 22.5% of children received only drug therapy, the researchers report.  

Q&A: Indian journalist Sainath brings focus on challenges of rural life to University courses .

Award-winning journalist P. Sainath, whose work focuses on rural India and the plight of its farmers, is teaching two courses for undergraduates this spring in Princeton's Program in South Asian Studies.

Mendelberg examines inequality through political behavior .

In exploring the racial underside of political communications, Princeton University politics professor Tali Mendelberg has found that unspoken words can be the most damaging. Mendelberg is a political psychologist who studies the ways in which individuals' thoughts, emotions and behavior affect political processes. Her research focuses on communication about race in political campaigns -- particularly the varying effects of implicit and explicit racial messaging -- and the role of race, gender and other factors in citizen deliberation.