Self-Directed Violence Picture System Images are Perceived as Relating to Self-Harm

The current study sought to validate the perception that the images in the SDVPS are related to self-harm. Participants included 73 undergraduate volunteers from a university in New England. As part of a larger study, participants sequentially viewed six self-harm (SDVPS) and six other-harm (IAPS) images and were required to respond to three questions that addressed the type of harm in the image and disturbance level. Analyses revealed that the SDVPS images and IAPS images were rated as similar in level of disturbance and variance in disturbance level was present for images depicting self-harm and images depicting other harm. Additionally, participants rated SDVPS images higher in portraying self-harm rather than other-harm, but they were more decisive in concluding that IAPS images portrayed other-harm rather than self-harm.