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There are two objectives in this study, i.e. to examine age in relation to reasons for self-harm and religion in relation to reasons for self-harm. A total of 720 respondents who professed self-harm participated in this study, 48.1% (346) of whom are males and 51.9% (374), females. The reasons for self-harm were measured by the Self-Hurt Assessment, which has 2 main categories, namely, intrapersonal and interpersonal reasons for self-harm. The results of this study showed that intrapersonal reasons were the main reasons for self-harm among adolescents. However, interpersonal reasons for self-harm cannot be ignored because they were the second and third highest reasons given for self-harm. In terms of age, 13 year-old adolescents need to be given the most attention because this age has significant differences with age 16 (t= 91.397, p < .05), and age 14 ( t=70.435, p < .05) in relation to reasons for self-harm. Religion had no significant difference with reasons for self-harm (H=2.422, p >.05) confirming that religion is a protective factor as the analysis found that respondents had no reason for self-harm in this respect. This study points to the need for greater public awareness of the impact of adolescent self-harm behaviour. Prevention and intervention programmes are urgent requirements to help such adolescents. Also, parents need to pay more attention to their children‘s emotional and psychological wellbeing, apart from providing for their material needs.
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In-Text Citation: (Kamaludin & Ee, 2022)
To Cite this Article: Kamaludin, N. B., & Ee, G. T. (2022). Age and Religion in Relation to Reasons for Self-Harm Among Adolescents. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(11), 541 – 553.
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