Peter Nikken (@Peter_nikken) tweette een paar berichten over zelfverminkingvideo’s:

“Op YouTube staan meer dan 5000 filmpjes die zelfverminking verheerlijken. Deze beelden werden meer dan 2,3 miljoen keer bekeken en roepen veel reacties op. Psychologen zeggen dat dit tieners aanmoedigt zichzelf te pijnigen.

YouTube ligt nu onder vuur wegens het online zetten van videoclips waarop tieners zichzelf toetakelen met scheermesjes en in hun vel snijden voor de camera. Deze verontrustende trend kan zelfverminking verheerlijken, zo blijkt uit onderzoek. Psychologen eisen nu van YouTube dat ze zulke beelden bant. Zelfverminking komt het vaakst voor bij jonge mensen. Tussen 14 en 24 procent van de tieners deden dit al minstens een keer.” (bron AD)

Hij bezorgde ook de link naar het eigenlijke onderzoek, waarvan dit het abstract is:

OBJECTIVE Nonsuicidal self-injury, the deliberate destruction of one’s body tissue (eg, self-cutting, burning) without suicidal intent, has consistent rates ranging from 14% to 24% among youth and young adults. With more youth using video-sharing Web sites (eg, YouTube), this study examined the accessibility and scope of nonsuicidal self-injury videos online.

METHODS Using YouTube’s search engine (and the following key words: “self-injury” and “self-harm”), the 50 most viewed character (ie, with a live individual) and noncharacter videos (100 total) were selected and examined across key quantitative and qualitative variables.

RESULTS The top 100 videos analyzed were viewed over 2 million times, and most (80%) were accessible to a general audience. Viewers rated the videos positively (M = 4.61; SD: 0.61 out of 5.0) and selected videos as a favorite over 12 000 times. The videos’ tones were largely factual or educational (53%) or melancholic (51%). Explicit imagery of self-injury was common. Specifically,90% of noncharacter videos had nonsuicidal self-injury photographs, whereas 28% of character videos had in-action nonsuicidal self-injury. For both, cutting was the most common method. Many videos (58%) do not warn about this content.

CONCLUSIONS The nature of nonsuicidal self-injury videos on YouTube may foster normalization of nonsuicidal self-injury and may reinforce the behavior through regular viewing of nonsuicidal self-injury–themed videos. Graphic videos showing nonsuicidal self-injury are frequently accessed and received positively by viewers. These videos largely provide nonsuicidal self-injury information and/or express a hopeless or melancholic message. Professionals working with youth and young adults who enact nonsuicidal self-injury need to be aware of the scope and nature of nonsuicidal self-injury on YouTube.