Patterns of self‐cutting: A preliminary study on differences in clinical implications between wrist‐ and arm‐cutting using a Japanese juvenile detention center sample

The present study was aimed to clarify the differences in clinical implications between wrist‐ and arm‐cutting. Subjects were 201 delinquent adolescents (178 males and 23 females) who had been admitted to a detention center from February to March 2003. A self‐reporting questionnaire and the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale (ADES) were given. Traumatic events and other self‐injurious behavior were compared among four groups. In total, 33 (16.4%) subjects reported wrist‐ and/or arm‐cutting. Of the females, 60.9% (n = 14) had experienced self cutting behaviors compared to 10.7% of males (n = 19). Subjects were divided into four groups; ‘non‐cutting’ (NC: n = 168, 83.6%), ‘wrist‐cutting’ (WC: n = 5, 2.5%), ‘arm‐cutting’ (AC: n = 19, 9.5%), and ‘wrist‐ and arm‐cutting’ (WAC: n = 9, 4.5%). WC, AC, and WAC groups reported early separation, bulling in school, and histories of sexual/physical abuse more frequently than NC group. WC and WAC groups reported suicidal ideation and suicide attempts more frequently than NC and AC groups. The ADES scores in AC and WAC groups were significantly higher than in those in NC group (P