Self-Reported Experience of Self-Injurious Behavior in College Students

The purpose of this study was to gain firsthand qualitative information about the experience of self-injurious behavior (SIB) by asking the 79 participants to describe their experiences before, during, and after SIB. Students with a history of SIB were separated into two groups: those students who self-injured only once and those who had harmed themselves multiple times. The most common experiences for both groups directly before SIB were feeling depressed, angry, and out of control, but the two groups reported different experiences during and after SIB.