psycho-socio-demographic risk factors of self-injurious behaviors in iranian females inmates: a case-control study

Background: self-injurious behavior or self-harm among inmates is a common phenomenon. however, no study has yet been conducted in iran regarding self-harm in female inmates. objectives: the present study aimed to investigate the psycho-socio-demographic risk factors associated with non-suicidal self-harm in iranian female inmates. patients and methods: participants in this case-control study were 306 female inmates in tehran, who were randomly selected and divided into two groups: (1) 88 individuals who scored 5 or higher on the sansone self-harm inventory (shi), and (2) 88 individuals randomly selected from the 218 inmates who did not self-harm as the comparison group. the participants completed a researcher-designed questionnaire, shi, and the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. the data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis in spss version 16. results: logistic regression analysis revealed that marital status (b = 1.438, p = 0.002), arrest history (b = 1.295, p = 0.005), substance abuse (b = 1.198, p = 0.011), psychiatric diagnoses (b = 1.126, p = 0.018), parental divorce (b = 1.280, p = 0.005), and difficulties in emotion regulation (b = 0.027, p = 0.022) were significant predictors of self-harm in inmates. although there was a difference in the addiction rates of parents between those with self-harm and those without, this variable did not predict self-harm in female inmates (b = 0.488, p = 0.307). conclusions: the results of this study underscore the importance of family-based preventive interventions to prevent self-harm behaviors among female inmates.