Top

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Prevalence, correlates, and prospective predictors of non-suicidal self-injury among New Zealand adolescents: cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data

Authors: Jessica Anne Garisch, Marc Stewart Wilson

Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health | Issue 1/2015

Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is common among adolescents and linked to many maladaptive outcomes. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and correlates of NSSI among a community sample of New Zealand adolescents. A self-report questionnaire was administered to adolescents at time 1 (N = 1162, mean age = 16.35), and approximately five months later (time 2, N = 830, mean age = 16.49). Prevalence and bivariate correlations were assessed at both time points, and cross-lag correlations using matched data (N = 495, mean age = 16.23). Lifetime history of NSSI was 48.7 % (females 49.4 %, males 48 %). Consistent with previous international research, NSSI was associated with higher Alexithymia, depression, anxiety, bullying, impulsivity, substance abuse, abuse history and sexuality concerns and lower mindfulness, resilience and self-esteem. Cross-lag correlations suggested NSSI is directly (perhaps causally) related to psychological vulnerability in various domains (e.g., increased depression and lower self-esteem), while bullying may be more distal to NSSI, rather than a proximal predictor.

Questions on abuse were only included in later versions of the school survey because the topic of NSSI proved controversial among secondary schools, and adding questions on abuse in addition to the sensitive questions on NSSI, bullying, substance abuse, and sexuality may have discouraged participation. Thus, the first three schools surveyed did not have abuse questions included in T1 surveys for their students. Abuse questions were included in later administrations when no negative feedback from students or guidance counsellors was received. Schools were given the explicit option of excluding the abuse questions; only one chose to do so.

Andrews T, Martin G, Hasking P, Page A. Predictors of continuation and cessation of nonsuicidal self-injury. J Adolesc Health. 2013;53:40–6.CrossRefPubMed

Baldry AC. The impact of direct and indirect bullying on the mental and physical health of Italian youngsters. Aggress Behav. 2004;30:343–55.CrossRef

Bjarehed J, Wangby-Lundh M, Lundh L. Nonsuicidal self-injury in a community sample of adolecents: subgroups, stability, and associations with psychological difficulties. J Res Adolesc. 2012;22:678–93.CrossRef

Butler AM, Malone K. Attempted suicide v. non-suicidal self-injury: behaviour, syndrome or diagnosis? Br J Psychiatry. 2013;202:324–5.CrossRefPubMed

Carr A, McNulty M. The handbook of adult clinical psychology: an evidence based practice approach. London: Routledge; 2006.

Chapman AL, Gratz KL, Brown MZ. Solving the puzzle of deliberate self-harm: the experiential avoidance model. Behav Res Ther. 2006;44:371–94.CrossRefPubMed

Coggan C, Bennett S, Hooper R, Dickinson P. Association between bullying and mental health status in New Zealand adolescents. Int J Ment Health Promot. 2003;5:16–21.CrossRef

Conner KR, Langley J, Tomaszewsli KJ, Conwell Y. Injury hospitalization and risks for subsequent self-injury and suicide: A national study from New Zealand. Am J Public Health. 2003;93:1128–31.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

De Leo D, Heller C. Who are the kids who self-harm? An Australian self-report survey. Med J Aust. 2004;181:140–4.PubMed

10.

D’Onofrio AA. Adolescent self-injury. A comprehensive guide for counsellors and health care professionals. New York: Springer Publishing Company; 2007.

11.

Evans E, Hawton K, Rodham K. Factors associated with suicidal phenomena in adolescents: A systematic review of population based studies. Clin Psychol Rev. 2004;24:957–79.CrossRefPubMed

12.

Evans E, Hawton K, Rodham K. In what ways are adolescents who engage in self-harm or experience thoughts of self-harm different in terms of help-seeking, communication and coping strategies? J Adolesc. 2005;28:573–87.CrossRefPubMed

13.

Everall RD, Altrows KJ, Paulson BL. Creating a future: A study of resilience in suicidal female adolescents. J Couns Dev. 2006;84:461–70.

14.

Feldman G, Hayes A, Kumar S, Gresson J, Laurenceau J. Mindfulness and emotion regulation: the development and initial validation of the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R). J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2007;29:177–90.CrossRef

15.

Fisher HL, Moffitt TE, Houts RM, Belsky DW, Arseneault L, Caspi A. Bullying victimisaiton and risk of self-harm in early adolescence: longitudinal cohort study. Br Med J. 2012;344, e2683.CrossRef

16.

Fortune S. An examination of cutting and other methods of Non-suicidal self-injury among children and adolescents presenting to an outpatient clinic in New Zealand. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2006;11:407–16.CrossRefPubMed

17.

Friedman T, Newton C, Coggan C, Hooley S, Patel R, Pickard M, et al. Predictors of A&E staff attitudes to self-harm patients who use self-laceration: Influence of previous training and experience. J Psychosom Res. 2006;60:273–7.

18.

Garisch JA, Wilson MS. Vulnerabilities to Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: the role of alexithymia and victimisation. Br J Clin Psychol. 2010;49:151–62.CrossRefPubMed

19.

Germer CK. Mindfulness. What is it? What does it matter? From an edited series. In: Germer CK, Siegal RR, Fulton PR, editors. Mindfulness and psychotherapy. New York: Guilford Press; 2005. p. 3–27.

20.

Gratz KL, Chapman AL. The role of emotional responding and childhood maltreatment in the development and maintenance of Non-suicidal self-injury among male undergraduates. Psychol Men Masc. 2007;8:1–14.CrossRef

21.

Guerry JD, Prinstein MJ. Longitudinal prediction of adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: examination of a cognitive vulnerability-stress model. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2010;39:1–13.

22.

Haines J, Williams CL. Coping and problem solving of self-mutilators. J Clin Psychol. 1997;53:177–86.CrossRefPubMed

23.

Hawton K, Rodham K, Evans E. By their own young hand: Non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideas in adolescents. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishing; 2006.

24.

Hodgson S. Cutting through the silence: a sociological construction of self-injury. Sociol Inq. 2004;74:162–79.CrossRef

25.

Hubbar P. Desire/disgust: mapping the moral contours of heterosexuality. Prog Hum Geogr. 2000;24:191–217.CrossRef

26.

Izard CE. Emotional intelligence or adaptive emotions? Emotion. 2001;1:249–57.CrossRefPubMed

27.

Kenny D. Cross-lag panel correlations: a test for spuriousness. Psychol Bull. 1975;82:887–903.CrossRef

28.

Knight RG, Waal-Manning HJ, Spears GF. Scale norms and reliability data for the state-trait anxiety inventory and the zung self-rating depression scale. Br J Clin Psychol. 1983;22:245–9.CrossRefPubMed

29.

Krug EG, Marcy JA, Dahlberg LL, Zwi AB. The world report on violence and health. Lancet. 2002;360:1083–8.CrossRefPubMed

30.

Laye-Gindhu A, Chonert-Reichl KA. Nonsuicidal self-harm among community adolescents: understanding the ‘whats’ and ‘whys of self-harm. J Youth Adolesc. 2005;34:447–57.CrossRef

31.

Lereya ST, Winsper C, Heron J, Lewis G, Gunnell D, Fisher HL, et al. Being bullied during childhood and the prospective pathways to self-harm in late adolescence. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2013;52:608–18.

32.

Lucassen MFG, Merry SN, Robinson EM, Denny S, Clark T, Ameratunga S, et al. Sexual attraction, depression, self-harm, suicidality and help-seeking behaviour in New Zealand secondary school students. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2011;45:376–83.

33.

Lundh L, Karim J, Quilish E. Non-suicidal self-injury in 15-year-old adolescents: A pilot study with a modified version of the Non-suicidal self-injury inventory. Scand J Psychol. 2007;48:33–41.CrossRefPubMed

34.

Marshall SK, Tilton-Weaver LC, Stattin H. Non-suicidal self-injury and depressive symptoms during middle adolescence: a longitudinal analysis. J Youth Adol. 2013;42:1234–42.CrossRef

35.

McGee R, Williams S, Nada-Raja S. Low self-esteem and hopelessness in children and suicidal ideation in early adulthood. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2001;29:281–91.CrossRefPubMed

36.

Miller A, Rathus JH, Linehan MM. Dialectical behavioral therapy with suicidal adolescents. London: Guilford; 2007.

37.

Ministry of Education (2010) Student numbers. http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/schooling/july_school_roll_returns/6028. Accessed 10^th March 2014.

38.

Muehlenkamp JJ, Gutierrez PM. An investigation of differences between self-injurious behaviour and suicide attempts between self-injurious behaviour and suicide attempts in a sample of adolescents. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2004;34:12–23.CrossRefPubMed

39.

Muehlenkamp JJ, Claes L, Havertape L, Plener PL. International prevalence of adolescent nonsuicidal self-injury and deliberate self-harm. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2012;6:1–9.CrossRef

40.

Nada-Raja S, Morrison S, Skegg K. A population-based study of help-seeking in young adults. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2003;37:600–5.CrossRefPubMed

41.

Nada-Raja S, Skegg K. Victimization, posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology, and later nonsuicidal self-harm in a birth cohort. J Interpers Violence. 2011;26:3667–81.CrossRefPubMed

42.

Nada-Raja S, Skegg K, Langley J, Morrison D, Sowerby P. Self-harmful behaviours in a population-based sample of young adults. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2004;14:177–86.CrossRef

43.

Nixon MK, Cloutier PF, Aggarwal S. Affect regulation and addictive aspects of repetitive self-injury in hospitalised adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2002;41:1333–41.CrossRefPubMed

44.

Nock MK, Cha CB. Psychological Models of Non-suicidal Self-Injury. In: Nock MK, editor. Understanding non-suicidal self-injury: origins, assessment, and treatment. Washington: American Psychological Association; 2009. p. 65–78.CrossRef

45.

Nulty DD. The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: What can be done? Assess Eval High Educ. 2008;33:301–14.CrossRef

46.

Paivio SC, McCulloch CR. Alexithymia as a mediator between childhood trauma and self-injurious behaviours. Child Abuse Negl. 2004;28:339–54.CrossRefPubMed

47.

Patton JH, Stanford MS, Barrett ES. Factor structure of the Barrett impulsiveness scale. J Clin Psychol. 1995;51:768–74.CrossRefPubMed

48.

Plener PL, Schumacher TS, Munz LM, Groschwitz RC. The longitudinal course of non-suicidal self-injury and deliberate self-harm: A systematic review of the literature. Borderl Personal Dis Emotion Regulat. 2015;2:2.CrossRef

49.

Rigby K. Consequences of bullying in school. Can J Psychiatry. 2003;48:583–90.PubMed

50.

Rosenberg M. Society and the adolescent self-image. New Jersey: Princeton University Press; 1965.

51.

Ross S, Heath N. A study of the frequency of self-mutilation in a community sample of adolescents. J Youth Adolesc. 2002;31:67–77.CrossRef

52.

Rouse KAG, Ingersoll GM, Orr DP. Longitudinal health endangering behaviour risk among resilient and nonresilient early adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 1998;23:297–302.

53.

Ruiz-Veguilla M, Diaz F, Prados M. Bullying, depression, suicidal ideation and Non-suicidal self-injury in Spanish adolescents. Eur Psychiatry. 2004;19:78s–115.CrossRef

54.

Saklofske DH, Austin EJ, Minski PS. Factor structure and validity of a trait emotional intelligence measure. Pers Individ Dif. 2003;34:707–21.CrossRef

55.

Sampson E, Mukherjee S, Ukoumunne OC, Mullan N, Bullock T. History of Non-suicidal self-injury and its association with mood fluctuation. J Affect Disord. 2004;79:223–7.CrossRefPubMed

56.

Schutte NS, Malouff JM, Hall LE, Haggerty DJ, Cooper JT, Golden CJ, et al. Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Pers Individ Dif. 1998;25:167–77.

57.

Sifneous PE. Short-term psychotherapy and emotional crisis. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 1972.

58.

Silva PA, Stanton WR. From child to adult: The Dunedin multidisciplinary health and development study. Auckland, NZ:Oxford University Press; 1996.

59.

Sinclair J, Green J. Understanding resolution of Non-suicidal self-injury: qualitative interview study of patients’ experiences. Br Med J. 2005;330:1112–6.CrossRef

60.

Skegg K, Nada-Raja S, Dickinson P, Williams P. Sexual Orientation and self-harm in men and women. Am J Psychiatry. 2003;160:541–6.CrossRefPubMed

61.

Soloman Y, Farrand J. "Why don't you do it properly?" Young women who self-injure. J Adolescence. 1996;19:111-19.

62.

Stanford MS, Mathias CW, Dougherty DM, Lakem SL, Anderson NE, Patton JH. Fifty years of the Barratt impulsivity scale: an update and review. Pers Individ Dif. 2009;47:385–95.CrossRef

63.

Smith NB, Kouros CD, Meuret AE. The role of trauma symptoms in nonsuicidal self-injury. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2014;15:41–56.CrossRefPubMed

64.

Stallard P, Spears M, Montgomery AA, Phillips R, Sayal K. Self-harm in young adolescents (12–16 year): onset and short-term continuation in a community sample. BMC Psychiatry. 2013;13:328–42.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

65.

Suyemoto Y. The functions of self-mutilation. Clin Psychol Rev. 1998;18:531–54.CrossRefPubMed

66.

Taylor GJ, Ryan D, Bagby MR. Toward the development of a new self-report alexithymia scale. Psychother Psychosom. 1986;44:191–9.CrossRef

67.

Thombs BD, Bernstein DP, Ziegelstein RC, Bennett W, Walker EA. A brief two-item screener for detecting a history of physical or sexual abuse in childhood. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2007;29:8–13.CrossRefPubMed

68.

Tuisku V, Kiviruusu O, Pelkonen M, Karlsson L, Strandholm T, Marttunen M. Depressed adolescents as young adults – Predictors of suicide attempt and non-suicidal self-injury during an 8-year follow-up. J Affect Disord. 2014;152–154:313–9.CrossRefPubMed

69.

Wagnild GM, Young HM. Development and psychometric evaluation of the Resilience Scale. J Nurs Meas. 1993;1:165–78.PubMed

70.

Yates TM, Tracy AJ, Luthar SS. Nonsuicidal self-injury among “privileged” youths: Longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches to developmental process. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2008;76:52–62.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

71.

You J, Leung F, Fu K. Exploring the reciprocal relations between nonsuicidal self-injury, negative emotions and relationship problems in Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal cross-Lag study. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2012;40:829–36.CrossRefPubMed

72.

Zung WWK. A self-rating depression scale. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1965;12:63–70.CrossRefPubMed

73.

Zung WWK. A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosom. 1971;12:371–9.CrossRef

74.

Zung WWK. The differentiation of anxiety and depressive disorders: a biometric approach. Psychosom. 1971;12:380–4.CrossRef

Title: Prevalence, correlates, and prospective predictors of non-suicidal self-injury among New Zealand adolescents: cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data
Authors: Jessica Anne Garisch
Marc Stewart Wilson
Publication date: 01-12-2015
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1753-2000
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-015-0055-6

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Prevalence, correlates, and prospective predictors of non-suicidal self-injury among New Zealand adolescents: cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2015

Facilitating support groups for siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorders using audio-conferencing: a longitudinal feasibility study

Current state and recent developments of child psychiatry in China

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health reviewer acknowledgement 2014

Child psychiatry services in Asia: evolving state of affairs?

Development and piloting of a treatment foster care program for older youth with psychiatric problems

Research with adolescents who engage in non-suicidal self-injury: ethical considerations and challenges