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Although primary care and mental health practitioners often encounter patients with nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), little is known about the community prevalence of these behaviors in youth. These researchers examine data from a CDC-sponsored 2015 survey on risk behaviors from 64,671 youths aged 14 to 18 from 11 states (50% female; 52% non-Hispanic white).
Responding to the question, “During the past 12 months, how many times did you purposefully hurt yourself without wanting to die, such as cutting or burning on purpose,” 17.6% of participants answered affirmatively at least once, twice more frequently by girls than boys (24% vs. 11%); 5.5% indicated ≥6 NSSI incidents. Rates were highest in 14-year-olds (19%) and declined linearly through …