Qualitative data from the study showed that many who had participated in digital self-harm were looking for a response.Researchers used sample of 5,593 middle and high school students between the ages of 12 and 17 years old living in the US to find out how many youth participated in digital self- harm, as well as their motivations for such behaviour. Their reasons varied dramatically.The findings, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, show that nearly six per cent of the teens reported that they had anonymously posted something mean about themselves online."The idea that someone would cyberbully themselves first gained public attention with the tragic suicide of 14-year-old Hannah Smith in 2013 after she anonymously sent herself hurtful messages on a social media platform just weeks before she took her own life," said  China OEM Bolt Sleeve Anchors Suppliers Sameer Hinduja, a professor at Florida Atlantic University in the US"We knew we had to study this empirically, and I was stunned to discover that about one in 20 middle- and high- school-age students have bullied themselves online," said Hinduja.They also examined if certain correlates of offline self-harm also applied to digital forms of self-harm.

Those who reported using drugs or participating in deviance, had depressive symptoms, or had previously engaged in self-harm behaviours offline were all significantly more likely to have engaged in digital self-harm.This finding is especially worrisome for the researchers as there may be more of a possibility that this behaviour among girls leads to attempted or completed suicide."Prior research has shown that self-harm and depression are linked to increased risk for suicide and so, like physical self-harm and depression, we need to closely look at the possibility that digital self-harm behaviours might precede suicide attempts," said Hinduja.Boys were more likely to participate in this behaviour compared to girls.