Perfil epidemiológico de adolescentes con conducta autolesiva en un municipio de la provincia de Buenos Aires

Self-injurious behavior is considered a serious public health problem;howeverthere are little statistics and empirical research in Argentina. In this work, we sought to know personal and contextual aspects of adolescents with self-injurious behavior from a clinical sample made up of subjects admitted to a mental health program in a municipality in the province of Buenos Aires. Discovery: ages lower than expected (13.3% between 6 and 11 years); predominance of the female sex (79.44%); high prevalence of adverse events such as child and adolescent abuse (86%); family problems (90%) and socio-economic vulnerability (55%); cuts as the predominant type of self-injurious behavior; limited therapeutic adherence; and self-injurious behavior sustained mainly by negative intrapersonal reinforcement (consistent with the explanatory model of emotional regulation). The findings are analyzed from a critical epidemiology perspective.The production of information regarding this problem is relevant insofar as it allows generating a diagnosis after which to produce appropriate public health responses. The lack of information contributes to the support of beliefs that naturalize the appearance of self-injurious behavior in adolescents, particularly in women, and generates prejudices regarding the motivations behind self-injurious actions. La conducta autolesiva se considera un problema grave de salud pública, sin embargo, existe escasa estadística e investigación empírica en Argentina. En este trabajo se buscó conocer aspectos personales y contextuales de adolescentes con conducta autolesiva de una muestra clínica constituida por sujetos ingresados a un programa de salud mental de un municipio de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Se halló: edades inferiores a las esperadas (13,3% entre 6 y 11 años); preeminencia del sexo femenino (79,44%); alta prevalencia de eventosadversos tales como maltrato infanto-juvenil (86%); problemáticas familiares (90%) y vulnerabilidad socio-económica (55%); cortes como tipo de conducta autolesiva predominante; limitada adherencia terapéutica; y conducta autolesiva sostenida principalmente por refuerzo intrapersonal negativo (congruente con el modelo explicativo de regulación emocional). Los resultados se analizan desde una perspectiva de epidemiología crítica.La producción de información respecto a esta problemática es relevante en tantopermite generar un diagnóstico tras el cual producir respuestas de salud pública acordes. La falta de información