Self-injury information available online, but rarely accurate

April 2, 2014

Although keywords related to self-injury were searched online over 40 million times in the past year, the majority of the pages returned contain misinformation on the subject. A recent article in JAMA Pediatrics by University of Guelph researchers examined the accuracy of information contained in the first page of Google search results for each of 92 keywords related to self-injury. The top hits all contained some form of myth or misinformation. The article suggested alternate, reliable, sources of information on the subject, including the BCTR's Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery (CRPSIR).

Janis Whitlock

Dr. Janis Whitlock, CRPSIR director, was quoted in a Reuters piece on the findings:

My take away is that it's good that awareness is starting to grow. Of course, with the proliferation of information there is going to be the proliferation of things that aren't quite true. That seems to be the nature of the web. There is nothing you can't find. We all have to be educated searchers.

Self injury information available online, but rarely accurate - Reuters