Deliberate Self-harm: a study about the evolution of stable maladaptive strategies

Self-injury is a maladaptive behavior described as the intentional injuring of one’s own body without suicidal intent, and it is very common in adolescents. The Experiential Avoidance model claims it is a negatively reinforced strategy for terminating unwanted emotional arousal, which reveals complex dynamics. Literature has not revealed the role of diverse factors in affecting such a behavior. The aim of this study is to model dynamics of self-injury in adolescence, through an agent based modelling (ABM) approach, by focusing on network topologies (i.e., Uniform, Gaussian, Exponential), three main categories of risk factors (i.e., Inner Factors, Outer Factors, Media Factors), and the interaction between nodes. A probability to experience stressful events is fixed, and the final number of self-injurious agents is the order parameter. Results are expected to show the combine effect of risk factors and topology, highlighting interesting scenarios about the complex dynamics of the phenomenon.