Using the attachment style interview to explore non-suicidal self-injury in men: the representational pathway from childhood trauma to non-suicidal self-injury

Empirical evidence suggests complex associations between childhood trauma and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI), with attachment emphasised as a conceptual link. However, studies exploring the experience of individuals who self-injure are limited, with men high-lighted as an under-researched group. The attachment style interview (ASI) was carried out with four young men, each with histories of adolescent NSSI. The ASIs were scored and categorised, as well as analysed more qualitatively, in the form of illustrative case vignettes, to provide further attachment-related insights into men’s NSSI. None of the young males was securely attached. Going beyond the categories, the vignettes revealed specific issues of rejection, abandonment, loss and anger. The attachment approach also provided linkages with adverse early experiences, including poor care and parentification. Conceptually, these findings reveal specific attachment issues which may be important in the representational pathway from childhood trauma to NSSI.

© FrancoAngeli