The relationship of body modification and self-harming behavior with psychological traumas experienced in childhood

This article presents the results of empirical research on the relationship between body modification and self-harming behavior on the one hand and psychological trauma in childhood on the other hand. The problem appears to be topical due to the frequent occurrence of self-harming behavior and the increasing popularity of body modification. The hypotheses of the study were as follows: the extent of body modification and self-harm are positively associated with psychological traumas experienced in childhood; psychological traumas associated with violence experienced in childhood show a stronger correlation with body modification and self-harm in adulthood, compared with other types of psychological traumas. The study involved 105 women and 71 men aged 16 to 50 years (the average age of women was 21.5, the average age of men was 25.2). The survey and subjective scaling methods were used. The analysis of relationships between the variables was carried out with the help of nonparametric methods. The nonparametric Spearman coefficient was used to study the correlation. The intergroup comparison of scale estimates was performed using a one-factor analysis of variance. We obtained statistically significant weak positive correlations between the number of body modifications and the overall indicator of adverse life events. The number of body modifications is significantly positively associated with the experience of family psycho-traumatic events and violence. The self-harm rate is significantly positively associated with the overall indicator of adverse life situations, experience of family psycho-traumatic situations and violence. The coefficients of correlation between self-harm and adverse life situations turned out to be slightly higher compared to the correlation between body modifications and adverse childhood experiences. Correlation analysis showed a weak but significant positive relationship between self-harm and the number of body modifications. Significant differences in the indicator of psycho-traumatic events were found between subgroups of respondents with and without piercings. Respondents with piercings demonstrate significantly higher rates on the general scale of adverse life events, on the scale of family psycho-traumatic situations, and the scale of psycho-traumatic events related to violence, compared with respondents without piercings. Regression analysis showed a significant correlation between the coefficient of self-harm and the gender factor, the factor of family psycho-traumatic events and psycho-traumatic events related to violence. This model explained 16.2% of the variance of the self-injury coefficient. The number of body modifications was significantly related only to the gender factor and the factor of psycho-traumatic events related to violence, which explained only 7.4% of the variance in the number of body modifications.