Development of a website for educators addressing how to understand, recognize, and respond to student self-injury.

摘要

Self-injury (SI) is defined as the act of deliberately destroying one's own body tissue without suicidal intent in a way that is not widely socially acceptable and is not as a result of mental retardation, autism, or other developmental delays. The review of the self-injury literature focused on the definition, prevalence, and other basic aspects of SI discovering life events associated with later development of SI the functions of the behavior, intervention for SI, and educators' level of knowledge and confidence when encountering SI. The review revealed that 4% of the general population and approximately 15% of the adolescent population report SI and that most self-injurers begin at about age 13.This thorough review of SI research and research specifically related to SI and educators revealed that many educators reported a need for further information regarding SI. The current researcher developed a beta version of a website about SI for educators that was then evaluated by SI experts. Three SI experts responded and indicated that the website was both accurate and needed in the field of education. After changes were made to the website utilizing the experts' recommendations, the website was submitted to educators for evaluation.The next phase of evaluation involved 25 educators, including school psychologists, school nurses, teachers, and an administrator who provided feedback. Most of the educators' responses indicated that the website was useful and easy to use. Educator responses to an online survey indicated that the average level of knowledge about SI and comfort level in dealing with self-injury was fair overall prior to viewing the website. After viewing the website, the average response went up one level to good regarding both knowledge and comfort level. Overall educator and expert responses indicated that the website educatorsandselfinjury.com is needed, accurate, and easy to navigate.