Direct Self-Injurious Behavior (D-SIB) and Life Events among Vocational School and High School Students

Abstract

Although several studies have recently assessed direct self-injurious behavior (D-SIB) among adolescents, it is still understudied in adolescents attending vocational schools: an educational setting generally associated with lower socioeconomic status. After extending the “Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe” (SEYLE) project to a vocational school population, we examined their D-SIB and life event characteristics compared to the high school population. SEYLE’s Hungarian randomly selected high school sample (N = 995) was completed with a randomly selected vocational school sample (N = 140) in Budapest, Hungary. Participants aged 14–17 years completed the SEYLE project’s self-administered questionnaires. D-SIB lifetime prevalence was significantly higher (29.4%) in the vocational school group compared to the high school group (17.2%) (Χ2(1) = 12.231, p< 0.001). D-SIB was associated with suicidal ideation in the vocational school group. Different life events were more frequent in the high school than in the vocational school group, and associations between D-SIB and life events differed in the vocational school group compared to the high school group. In conclusion, vocational school students are a vulnerable population with a higher prevalence of D-SIB compared to high school students. Life events and their association with D-SIB also differ in vocational school students compared to high school students. Taking all these into account might contribute to prevention/intervention designed for this population.

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Suicide: The Role of Life Events in Clinical and Non-Clinical Populations of Adolescents

“…In these previous international comparisons, Hungarian students reported a relatively low prevalence of NSSI with 17.1% according to the SEYLE study (5) and 3.4% for males and 10.3% for females according to the Child & Adolescent Selfharm in Europe (CASE) study (65). Our current results are in line with previous findings, where we found significant differences between high school and vocational school students regarding the prevalence of self-injury in a non-clinical sample of adolescents in Hungary (37). These results call attention to the necessity of including adolescents from various educational settings in both research and prevention projects.…”

“…On the other hand, findings of Burke and colleagues (36) suggest that this relationship may not be unidirectional: they found in a longitudinal study that engaging in greater NSSI may contribute to the occurrence of interpersonal stressful events among late adolescent girls. In our previous study (37), we compared lifetime prevalence of direct self-injurious behaviors and life event characteristics in high school and vocational school students, a population generally associated with lower socioeconomic status compared to high school students. Vocational school students reported higher prevalence of lifetime self-injury and increased number and severity of life events compared to high school students, but no direct link was found between NSSI and individual life events (37).…”

“…In our previous study (37), we compared lifetime prevalence of direct self-injurious behaviors and life event characteristics in high school and vocational school students, a population generally associated with lower socioeconomic status compared to high school students. Vocational school students reported higher prevalence of lifetime self-injury and increased number and severity of life events compared to high school students, but no direct link was found between NSSI and individual life events (37). All these results not only suggest a complex relationship between NSSI and life events but also draw attention to the necessity of including participants from heterogeneous educational settings when studying non-clinical populations.…”

Associations between non-suicidal self-injury and negative romantic relationship life events in male justice-involved adolescents

“…Peer and family relationship difficulties are associated with SIB and DSH behaviours as well [ 36 , 40 , 43 ]. In a sample of Hungarian high-school students, D-SIB (direct self-injurious behaviour without suicidal intent) was associated with family problems, trouble with police or law and difficulties with romantic/sexual relationships [ 44 ].…”

Towards a Greater Understanding of Suicidal Behaviour and Its Prevention

“…An article from Hungary about direct self-injurious behaviour compared two groups of youth—vocational school and high school students [ 24 ]. A vocational school is an educational setting generally associated with a lower socioeconomic status and this population is understudied.…”