Comparison of resilience, self-compassion and experiences of early abuse in students with and without self-harming behaviors

This study aimed to compare resilience, self-compassion, and experiences of early abuse in students with and without self-harm behaviors.

This descriptive study was performed with a causal-comparative design. The statistical population of this study consists of all undergraduate students studying at the University of Guilan in the academic year 2021-2021. The study participants were 115 students with, and 130 students without self-harm behaviors who were identified and selected among the students through the self-harm questionnaire of Sanson et al. (With a score of 5). Research data using the self-harm questionnaire of Sanson et al. (1998), Wagnild's (2009) short form of resilience scale, Raes et al.'s (2010) short form of self-compassion scale, Karami et al.'s (2019) short form of Dura et al.'s (2006) Psychiatric Symptoms questionnaire was collected. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze the data.

Based on the results, students have significant differences in the variables of resilience, self-compassion, and experiences of early abuse (P <0.05). In the other words, in this research, students with self-harm behaviors have less resilience and self-compassion and experiences of early abuse. Self-harmer people have self-management, meaning in life, self-kindness, common human experiences, less mindfulness and self-judgment, over-identification, isolation, experiences of physical and verbal abuse, and more neglect than non-self-harmer people.Discussion and

Considering the research findings and low levels of resilience and self-compassion in students with a history of self-harm, it is suggested that programs and workshops in university counseling centers teach the method of Self-management, increase resilience, and increase self-compassion to prevent self-harm behaviors. Findings indicate that there are more experiences of early abuse in students with self-harm, therefore, it is suggested that measures be taken to review the mental health record of students and provide medical services to people with experiences of early abuse.