The Psychosocial Correlates of Non-suicidal Self-Injury Within a Sample of Adolescents With Mood Disorder

Abstract

BackgroundAccording to the integrated theoretical model, adolescents' behaviors were the outcome of the complex interplay between multiple levels. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious and high prevalent problem among adolescents with mood disorders. However, a systematic perspective on psychosocial correlates among Chinese clinical adolescents is still rare.MethodThe impact of several factors at the individual (i.e., sex, age, self-esteem, and psychological distress), family (i.e., family structure, family income, and family support), and social level (i.e., living environment, peer support, and teacher support) on the frequency of NSSI behaviors were investigated in the current study. This research included 621 Chinese adolescents with mood disorders from 20 hospitals.ResultsThree-steps hierarchical regression analyses indicated that lower levels of psychological distress and higher levels of self-esteem were most associated with less frequency of NSSI behaviors. In addition, family support was negatively associated with the frequency of NSSI behaviors. After controlling the factors at individual and family levels, no significant association was found between the factors at the social level and the frequency of NSSI behaviors.ConclusionThese findings provide preliminary support for the notion that adolescent self-esteem and family support may effectively shield them from problematic behavior; nevertheless, adolescents suffering from more emotional pain can be even riskier. Thus, further intervention strategies should consider the non-independence of individual capacities, co-combinatory effects of mood disorder, and family environment in treating those vulnerable Chinese adolescents.

Non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents with mood disorders and the roles of self-compassion and emotional regulation

“…Consistent with the findings in the literature, we found in our clinical samples that NSSI is a common occurrence among those with mood disorders (41,42). We also found that NSSI was more frequently seen in female patients, in concordance with previous studies (43).…”

The Role of Rumination as a Mediator of Psychological Distress Relationships and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Behavior in Adolescent Victims of Bullying

“…The findings of this study are also in accordance with the results of research by Buelens et al (2019) and Michl et al (2013), that the high level of psychological stress will be followed by an increase in rumination in response to stress experienced by individuals. In addition, this finding is also supported by Richmond et al (2017), Ganaprakasam et al (2021), Meng at al. (2022), which states that psychological stress is related to NSSI, the more stressed the individual, the higher the involvement in NSSI behavior.…”

“…Individuals who respond to stress with rumination cause cognitive discomfort and make their negative mood increase and last longer than they should (Selby et al, 2013;Nagy et al 2022;Tonta et al, 2022). Then, the role of distress towards NSSI is supported by research results (Houben et al, 2017;Meng et al, 2022). In accordance with the emotional cascade model theory, the presence of high psychological distress will make individuals have negative feelings or intense unpleasant feelings, and NSSI exists as a distraction strategy to rapidly reduce the individual's intensive negative feelings, leading to relief and even increasing positive feelings, in this case adolescent victims of bullying.…”

Stressful life events and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model of depression and resilience

“…There are significant gender differences in NSSI among adolescents, with girls being more at risk than boys ( 40 , 41 ). NSSI is also associated with age ( 1 , 2 ).…”