ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2026
Self-reported prevalence and correlates of sex as self-injury in a Swedish high school population.
Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSex as self-injury (SASI) is a form of self-harm where sexual acts are used to cope with negative emotions, psychological distress or interpersonal difficulties, similar to other self-injurious behaviors like cutting or burning the skin. Despite growing recognition in Swedish society and healthcare, SASI lacks a standardized definition and remains under-researched. This study aimed to investigate the self-reported prevalence of SASI, motives and manifestations of the behavior and its association with emotional dysregulation, trauma symptoms, and abuse.
methodThe study was part of a national questionnaire-based survey including a representative sample of 3,251 adolescents in their third year of high school, mean age of 18 years.
resultsIn total 5.7% of adolescents reported to have engaged in SASI on at least one occasion. This behavior was more common among girls (8.6%) and adolescents with non-binary identification (11.5%) compared to boys (1.9%), and among sexual minorities (12.9%) compared to heterosexuals (4.2%). SASI was primarily used for emotional regulation and validation, often involving risky, painful, or self-loathing sexual situations. SASI was associated with sexual risk-taking behaviors such as selling sex, having many sexual partners, a history of chlamydia and abortion, as well as non-suicidal self-injury, emotional dysregulation, trauma symptoms, and experiences of abuse, particularly sexual abuse.
conclusionSASI could possibly be seen as a reactive behavior after child sexual abuse that might increase the risk of further victimization and exploitation. It is a particularly vulnerable group in need of mental health interventions including trauma treatment and support in emotional regulation to prevent revictimization.
conclusionSASI could possibly be seen as a reactive behavior after child sexual abuse that might increase the risk of further victimization and exploitation. It is a particularly vulnerable group in need of mental health interventions including trauma treatment and support in emotional regulation to prevent revictimization.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42340379What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.