70% of College Students Who Engage in Non-Suicidal Self-injury Do Not Seek Treatment: An International Study

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a high-risk behavior, yet much remains unknown about NSSI treatment utilization. The current study seeks to determine cross-national endorsement rates of NSSI and NSSI treatment utilization among college students. The present study uses baseline data from a survey study of 4,772 college students who completed a measure of NSSI recruited from the USA, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Argentina, and England. In total, 19% endorsed past-year NSSI, with participants in England and South Africa most likely to endorse past-year NSSI and those in Spain least likely. 30% of those who endorsed past-year NSSI reported lifetime NSSI treatment utilization, with outpatient services being the most commonly sought treatment in each country. Service utilization was lowest in Canada and highest in Argentina. Low rates of NSSI treatment utilization are consistent across many countries, suggesting that barriers to NSSI treatment may be international, rather than nation, specific.