Self-Mutilation in Personality Disorders: Psychological and Biological Correlates

26 self-mutilators with personality disorders were matched to 26 controls with personality disorders in order to study whether the 2 groups differed in impulsivity, aggression & other psychopathology & whether serotonergic dysfunction contributes to self-mutilation. Self-mutilators had significantly more severe character pathology, had greater lifetime aggression, & were more antisocial than the control group. However, the 2 groups did not differ in their history of suicide attempts. (28 refs.)