A prospective study of child maltreatment and self-injurious behavior in a community sample

Abstract

In conjunction with prospective ratings of child maltreatment (i.e., sexual abuse, physical abuse, and physical neglect) and measures of dissociation and somatization, this study examined prospective pathways between child maltreatment and nonsuicidal, direct self-injurious behavior (SIB; e.g., cutting, burning, self-hitting). Ongoing participants in the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 164; 83 males, 81 females) completed a semistructured interview about SIB when they were 26 years old. SIB emerged as a heterogeneous and prominent phenomenon in this low-income, mixed-gender, community sample. Child sexual abuse predicted recurrent injuring (i.e., three or more events; n = 13), whereas child physical abuse appeared more salient for intermittent injuring (i.e., one to two events; n = 13). Moreover, these relations appeared largely independent of risk factors that have been associated with child maltreatment and/or SIB, including child cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, maternal life stress, familial disruption, and childhood exposure to partner violence. Dissociation and somatization were related to SIB and, to a lesser degree, child maltreatment. However, only dissociation emerged as a significant mediator of the observed relation between child sexual abuse and recurrent SIB. The findings are discussed within a developmental psychopathology framework in which SIB is viewed as a compensatory regulatory strategy in posttraumatic adaptation.

A Brief Report on Predicting Self-Harm: Is It Gender or Abuse that Matters?

“…Thus, this work supported previous research (see Ford & Gómez, in press, for a review) that suggested that maltreatment was related to self-harm. These data collected by Yates et al (2008) showed a more complex pattern than had previously been reported, and the pattern became even more complicated when gender was included. For example, exposure to interpersonal violence did not predict self-harm for men, but did for women.…”

“…Although some theoretical and empirical models of self-harm include abuse history (e.g., Nock, 2012;Yates et al, 2008), many do not (e.g., Joiner et al, 2012;Klonsky et al, 2013). As Becker-Blease et al (2012) noted, exclusion of abuse history in empirical studies might lead to erroneous findings that, in turn, affect our ability to both prevent and understand complex phenomena.…”

“…For both men and women, dissociation (a lack of typical integration of thoughts, feelings, and behavior) was associated with a history of child abuse; self-blame mediated the association between maltreatment and self-harm. Yates, Carlson, and Egeland (2008) examined the relationship between child maltreatment and future self-harm in a prospective longitudinal study with a high-risk sample. Physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect were measured at several points during childhood.…”

Childhood maltreatment and clinical outcomes of bipolar disorder

“…As presented earlier, BD clinical outcomes associated with childhood maltreatment include more severe impairments in emotional self-regulation. Suicide attempts, aggressiveness, impulsivity, and mood dysregulation are independently associated with history of childhood trauma (45,46); therefore, the emergence of BD could be precipitated by these behavioral and emotional patterns.…”

Non-suicidal self-injury behaviors` features and relationship with adolescents` daily life activities and mental status

“…Some studies in the literature reported a correlation between NSSI and socioeconomic level, being abused, problems about friendship relations, psychological disorders like depression, anxiety, behavior disorders and suicide ideation along with several risky disorders like smoking, alcohol consumption, school skipping 4,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] .…”