- A recent study by the Medical University of Vienna shows that adolescents with a history of non-suicidal self-injurious behaviour (NSSI) show increased attention to images of self-harm on social media. This attention bias - the increased and faster fixation on such content - increases the urge to self-harm. The findings underline the urgency of strengthening prevention and intervention measures to minimise the potential risks of social media for vulnerable young people. The study was published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
In a study conducted by a research group at MedUni Vienna’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, adolescents aged 14 to 18 with and without experience of NSSI were analysed. The researchers used eye-tracking technology to measure the direction of gaze and duration of fixations on different visual stimuli. In addition, a dot-probe task was used to record reaction times to NSSI images compared to neutral images. The results clearly show that adolescents with NSSI experiences react significantly more strongly to images of self-harm than to neutral content and have difficulty turning their attention away from them.
A remarkable aspect of the results is that the increased attention and the increased urge to self-harm occur with images, but not with texts that deal with self-harm. In contrast, the control group with no history of NSSI did not show a comparable response to the NSSI images, suggesting that this content is less problematic for adolescents with no previous experience.
"Our study shows that visual content on social media can contribute significantly to the urge to self-harm, especially in adolescents who are already at risk," explains lead author Andreas Goreis from MedUni Vienna’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "These findings emphasise the need to better prepare young people for dealing with such images and to provide them with tools to improve their emotional regulation and distance themselves from distressing stimuli," adds study leader Oswald Kothgassner.
The study suggests that although physiological stress reactions such as heart rate or skin conductance do not show any significant differences when confronted with the images, the psychological effects can be stressful. Professionals and practitioners should therefore be alert to the potential triggers of such images and actively address this topic in dialogue with those affected.
With the insights gained, the study makes an important contribution to understanding the mechanisms of how visual content on social media can influence adolescents with NSSI. The researchers recommend measures to improve emotional regulation skills and awareness-raising programmes to preventively counteract the risks of this media content.
Publication: JAMA Network Open Attentional Biases and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Urges in Adolescents Andreas Goreis, Bettina Pfeffer, Carola Hajek Gross, Diana Klinger, Sofia M. Oehlke, Heidi Zesch, Laurence Claes, Paul L. Plener, Oswald D. Kothgassner.
JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(7):e2422892.
Publication: JAMA Network Open
Attentional Biases and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Urges in Adolescents Andreas Goreis, Bettina Pfeffer, Carola Hajek Gross, Diana Klinger, Sofia M. Oehlke, Heidi Zesch, Laurence Claes, Paul L. Plener, Oswald D. Kothgassner.
JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(7):e2422892.
doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.22892