The effect of domestic violence on self-harming behaviors due to the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in adolescent girls

Adolescence is a time of danger and opportunity and self-harming behaviors are one of the most important behaviors, The purpose of this study was to determine the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on the impact of domestic violence on adolescent self-harming behaviors.

The research method was descriptive correlational and the population consisted of all high school girls in Fouman city that 393 of them were selected by cluster random sampling and answered to the Self-Harm Inventory Sansone et al (1998), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Garnefski et al (2001) and Child Exposure to Domestic Violence Edleson et al (2008). Research data were analyzed by structural equation method and path analysis using AMOOS-24 software.

Findings showed that exposure to violence and the use of positive and negative emotion regulation strategies had an impact on self-harm behaviors in adolescent girls (p <0.01). Also, positive and negative strategies of emotion regulation can play a mediating role in relation to exposure to violence and deliberate self-harm (p <0.05).

According to the results of this study, one of the factors affecting self-harming behaviors of adolescent girls is exposure to violence and cognitive emotion regulation strategies.