Forms and functions of autoaggressive behaviour in adolescents with mental disorders

Aggressive and autoaggressive behaviours are often observed in the clinical work with adolescents. During adolescence the role of the supporting system (family) is decreased, whereas mental and biological changes may increase the stress vulnerability. The increasing emotional tension and inability to cope with problems typical of adolescence period make young people search for various methods of changing their situation. One of them may be autoaggressive behaviours. These fulfill special functions in adolescents’ lives. In literature we can find some data on the correlation between adolescents’ home situation (violence, low socioeconomic level, parents’ mental diseases, divorce, cultural impact) and autoaggressive behaviours. Aggressive behaviours were analysed in the clinical group (31 patients) and control group. The patients were hospitalised on the Adolescents Ward, Clinic of Developmental Psychiatry, Psychotic and Advanced Age Disorders, Medical University of Gdańsk, with the clinical diagnosis of eating disorders, depressive and anxiety disorders, behavioural and emotional disorders and paranoidal schizophrenia. Applied in the study were the Aggression Syndrome Psychological Inventory (ASPI) and the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory. The level of autoaggression differed significantly in the two groups. The S index (emotional and physical autoaggression) was significantly higher in the patients’ group. The obtained data confirmed the results from relevant literature, according to which autoaggressive behaviours constitute a strong regulatory mechanism in adolescents’ lives and may constitute one of psychopathological symptoms among psychiatrically hospitalised patients.