Self-Harming Behaviour in Young Adults in the Context of Cloninger’s Psychobiological Model of Temperament

Abstract

Self-harming behaviour, a maladaptive coping strategy employed in response to psychological distress, predominantly manifests during adolescence and early adulthood, and poses serious consequences for both physical and mental health. Its high risk and escalating prevalence have directed scholarly attention toward elucidating factors that contribute to its onset and persistence within the repertoire of maladaptive responses to stress and emotionally charged situations. One important avenue of investigation concerns the personality characteristics of individuals who engage in self-harm, particularly their stable, genetically influenced traits that may increase vulnerability to such behaviour. The present study aims to: (1) examine the association between self-harming behavior and temperament dimensions as conceptualized by R. C. Cloninger’s psychobiological model of personality (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence), grounded in genetic variations influencing the activity of specific neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine); and (2) evaluate the predictive utility of these temperament traits for self-harming behavior. The study sample comprised 589 individuals aged 18–30 years (M = 22.04; SD = 3.145), of whom 301 (51.1%) were female. The prevalence of self-harming behaviour within the sample was 55%. Correlational analyses revealed statistically significant (p < .001) positive associations between self-harm and the traits of novelty seeking and harm avoidance, alongside statistically significant (p < .001) negative associations with reward dependence and persistence. Subsequent linear regression identified three temperament traits—excluding persistence—as significant predictors of self-harming behaviour, collectively explaining 10.3% of its variance. Genetically influenced alterations in the activity and levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine—reflected in specific temperament traits—not only elevate the risk of self-harming behaviour but also correlate with other psychiatric disorders comorbid with self-harm. These findings underscore the potential benefit of therapeutic interventions targeting atypical neurotransmitter functioning to mitigate the adverse consequences of self-harming behavior.