Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The Role of Cognitive Distortion in the Relationship Between Abuse, Assault, and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood abuse, assault, cognitive distortion, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a clinical adolescent sample. The sample included one hundred eighty-five psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and their parents. Adolescent participants were predominantly female (71.4%), Caucasian (84%), and of non-Hispanic ethnicity (9.2%). Participants completed a diagnostic interview and self-report measures to assess youth history of abuse and assault, cognitive errors, negative self-views, and recent NSSI. No relationship was found between childhood abuse and NSSI. However, a history of assault was associated with NSSI among youth who reported higher cognitive errors and more negative self-views, even after controlling for gender and internalizing disorders. These results suggest that existing affect regulation models of NSSI may be enhanced by incorporating the role of cognitive distortion. Clinically, results also suggest that assessing adolescent victims of assault for cognitive errors and negative self-views, and helping them restructure these cognitive distortions when present, may reduce the likelihood of NSSI.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams, G., & Marshall, S. (1996). A developmental social psychology of identity: Understanding the person-in-context. Journal of Adolescence, 19, 429–442.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Agresti, A. (2002). Categorical data analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretical aspects. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R. (1985). Anxiety disorders and phobias: A cognitive perspective. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L., Houck, C., Grossman, C., Lescano, C., & Frenkel, J. (2008). Frequency of adolescent self-cutting as a predictor of HIV risk. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 29, 161–165.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cantwell, D. P., Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., & Seeley, J. R. (1997). Correspondence between adolescent report and parent report of psychiatric diagnostic data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 610–619.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, A., Gratz, K., & Brown, M. (2006). Solving the puzzle of deliberate self-harm: The experiential avoidance model. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 371–394.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, D., Swendsen, J., Rose, J., & Dierker, L. (2008). Risk and protective factors associated with trajectories of depressed mood from adolescence to early adulthood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 173–183.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DiClemente, R., Ponton, L., & Hartley, D. (1991). Prevalence and correlates of cutting behavior: Risk for HIV transmission. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 735–739.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DuMont, K., Widom, C., & Czaja, S. (2007). Predictors of resilience in abused and neglected children grown-up: The role of individual and neighborhood characteristics. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31(3), 255–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glassman, L., Weierich, M., Hooley, J., Deliberto, T., & Nock, M. (2007). Child maltreatment, non-suicidal self-injury, and the mediating role of self-criticism. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 2483–2490.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gratz, K., Conrad, S., & Roemer, L. (2002). Risk factors for deliberate self-harm among college students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 72, 128–140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hilt, L. M., Cha, C. B., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2008). Nonsuicidal self-injury in young adolescent girls: Moderators of the distress-function relationship. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 63–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, R. H., Reinecke, M. A., Gollab, J. K., & Kane, P. (2008). Empirical evidence of cognitive vulnerability for depression among children and adolescents: A cognitive science and developmental perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 759–783.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaslow, N., Stark, K., Printz, B., & Livingston, R. (1992). Cognitive triad inventory for children: Development and relation to depression and anxiety. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 339–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D. A., Rao, U., & Ryan, N. D. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school age children, present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–988.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (1990). Kaufman brief intelligence test: Manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, P. C., & Dobson, K. S. (1993). On the nature of cognition and its role in psychopathology. In K. S. Dobson & P. C. Kendall (Eds.), Psychopathology and cognition (pp. 3–19). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, D. N., Lewinsohn, P. M., Seeley, J. R., & Rohde, P. (2001). A family study of major depressive disorder in a community sample of adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 13–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, D. N., Ouimette, P. C., Kelly, H. S., Ferro, T., & Riso, L. P. (1994). Test–retest reliability team consensus best-estimate diagnoses of Axis I and II disorders in a family study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1043–1047.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klonsky, E. D., & Moyer, A. (2008). Childhood sexual abuse and non-suicidal self-injury: Meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 192, 166–170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krupnick, J., Green, B., Stockton, P., Goodman, L., Corcoran, C., & Petty, R. (2004). Mental health effects of adolescent trauma exposure in a female college sample: Exploring differential outcomes based on experiences of unique trauma types and dimensions. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 67, 264–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawyer, S., Ruggiero, K., Resnick, H., Kilpatrick, D., & Saunders, B. (2006). Mental health correlates of the victim-perpetrator relationship among interpersonally victimized adolescents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 1333–1353.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leitenberg, H., Yost, L., & Carroll-Wilson, M. (1986). Negative cognitive errors in children: Questionnaire development, normative data, and comparisons between children with and without self-reported symptoms of depression, low self-esteem, and evaluation anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 528–536.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd-Richardson, E., Perrine, N., Dierker, L., & Kelley, M. (2007). Characteristic and functions on non-suicidal self-injury in a community sample of adolescents. Psychological Medicine, 37, 1183–1192.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Messer, J., & Fremouw, W. (2008). A critical review of explanatory models for self-mutilating behaviors in adolescents. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 162–178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Najmi, S., Wegner, D., & Nock, M. (2007). Thought suppression and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1957–1965.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nock, M. K., Joiner, T. E., Gordon, K. H., Lloyd-Richardson, E., & Prinstein, M. J. (2006). Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: Diagnostic correlates and relation to suicide attempts. Psychiatry Research, 144, 65–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nock, M., & Prinstein, M. (2004). A functional approach to the assessment of self-mutilative behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 885–890.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nock, M., & Prinstein, M. (2005). Contextual features and behavioral functions of self-mutilation among adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 140–146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Noll, J., Horowitz, L., Bonanno, G., Trickett, P., & Putnam, F. (2003). Revictimization and self-harm in females who experienced childhood sexual abuse: Results from a prospective study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18, 1452–1471.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Penn, J., Esposito, C., Schaeffer, L., Fritz, G., & Spirito, A. (2003). Suicide attempts and self-mutilative behavior in a juvenile correctional facility. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 762–769.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prezant, D., & Neimeyer, R. (1988). Cognitive predictors of depression and suicide ideation. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 18, 259–264.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S., & Heath, N. (2002). A study of the frequency of self-mutilation in a community sample of adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31, 67–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Timbremont, B., & Braet, C. (2006). Brief report: A longitudinal investigation of the relation between a negative cognitive triad and depressive symptoms in youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29, 453–458.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Prevalence and consequences of male to female and females to male intimate partner violence as measured by the National Violence Against Women Survey. Violence Against Women, 6, 142–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldrop, A., Hanson, R., Resnick, H., Kilpatrick, D., Naugle, A., & Saunders, B. (2007). Risk factors for suicidal behavior among a national sample of adolescents: Implications for prevention. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 869–879.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weems, C. F., Berman, S. L., Silverman, W. K., & Saaverdra, L. M. (2001). Cognitive errors in youth with anxiety disorders: The linkages between negative cognitive errors and anxious symptoms. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25, 559–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whisman, M. A. (2006). Childhood trauma and marital outcomes in adulthood. Personal Relationships, 13, 375–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zoroglu, S., Tuzun, U., Sar, V., Tutkun, H., Savas, H., Ozturk, M., et al. (2003). Suicide attempt and self-mutilation among Turkish high school students in relation with abuse, neglect and dissociation. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 57, 119–126.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH065885 awarded to the second author (CES).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julie T. Weismoore.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Weismoore, J.T., Esposito-Smythers, C. The Role of Cognitive Distortion in the Relationship Between Abuse, Assault, and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury. J Youth Adolescence 39, 281–290 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9452-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9452-6

Keywords

Navigation