Harsh parenting and adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: A moderated mediation model of alienation and cognitive reappraisal

Childhood Maternal Warmth, Social Safety Schemas, and Adolescent Mental and Physical Health

Importance

Although early maternal warmth strongly predicts adolescent health, questions remain about the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying this association.

Objective

To understand how maternal warmth at 3 years of age shapes adolescent social safety schemas at 14 years of age and physical and mental health at 17 years of age.

Design, Setting, and Participants

The Millennium Cohort Study tracks approximately 19 200 children born from late 2000 to early 2002 in the UK. Participants were assessed from ages 3 to 17 years.

Exposure

Low maternal warmth (eg, lack of praise, negative tone of voice when speaking to the child) and maternal harshness (eg, using physical restraint, grabbing the child) were independently coded during a home visit (age 3 years).

Main Outcomes and Measures

Social safety (age 14 years) was measured by children's responses to 3 items (eg, "I have family and friends who help me feel safe, secure and happy"). Physical health was self-reported on a scale ranging from 1 (excellent) to 5 (poor) (age 17 years). Psychological distress (age 17 years) was assessed using the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Psychiatric problems (age 17 years) was a latent variable composed of self-disclosed clinical diagnosis of depression/anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal behaviors.

Results

The present sample included 8540 youths (52% female; 3.0% Black or Black British, 2.8% Indian, 6.7% Pakistani and Bangladeshi, 2.8% Mixed, 83% White, and 1.6% other). Data were analyzed from March 2024 to September 2024 using structural equation modeling. In models controlling for sex, ethnicity, income, neighborhood disadvantage, maternal mental health, and early cognitive ability, the paths from childhood maternal warmth (but not harshness) to social safety schemas at 14 years of age (b = 0.03; P < .001) and physical health at 17 years of age (b = 0.05; P = .02) were significant, suggesting that early maternal warmth enhances subsequent perceived social safety and physical health. Additionally, the paths from negative social safety schemas at 14 years of age to poorer physical health (b = 0.50; P < .001), psychological distress (b = 5.37; P < .001), and psychiatric problems (b = 0.21; P < .001) at 17 years of age were significant, suggesting that greater perceived social safety prospectively predicts better health. Social safety at 14 years of age mediated 20% to 100% of the effect of early maternal warmth on physical health, psychological distress, and psychiatric problems at 17 years of age (b = 0.01-0.15; P < .001 for all).

Conclusions and Relevance

These results show that early-life maternal warmth affected adolescent health by influencing perceptions of social safety. Improving parent-child relationships and enhancing youths' perceptions of social safety may thus improve adolescent health.

How does emotional insecurity affect non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese early adolescents: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious public health concern. Emotional insecurity is a crucial predictor of NSSI among adolescents. However, few studies have elucidated the specific mechanisms between emotional insecurity and NSSI.

METHODS

This study employed a longitudinal research design, using a sample of 886 Chinese early adolescents (Mage at T1 = 10.62 years, SD = 0.77 years; 47.40% females), and conducted two surveys six months apart to examine the mediating role of peer exclusion between emotional insecurity and NSSI, as well as the moderating effect of school climate.

RESULTS

The results indicated that peer exclusion significantly mediated the connection between emotional insecurity and adolescent NSSI. Moreover, school climate significantly moderated the connection between emotional insecurity and peer exclusion. Specifically, the impact of emotional insecurity on peer exclusion was significant only in adolescents who reported a negative school climate, but non-significant in those who reported a positive school climate.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide a robust theoretical foundation and practical insights to help inform the prevention of and interventions for NSSI in adolescents.

Effect of Parenting Style, attachment to parents and self-compassion on the occurrence and recovery motivation for non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents

Background

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a worldwide mental health problem that deserves thorough investigation. This study aims to explore the effect of parenting styles, attachment to parents, and self-compassion on the occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior in adolescents and whether these factors influence their recovery motivation.

Methods

A total of 132 adolescents who had engaged in NSSI within the last year and 72 adolescents who had never engaged in NSSI were recruited from the Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and from primary and secondary schools and communities. Differences in the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), Egma Minn av. Bardndosnauppforstran (EMBU), and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) of participants were compared. A binary logistic model was established to measure the odds ratios of these variables on the occurrence of NSSI. In the NSSI adolescent sample, separate binary logistic models were created with NSSI impulse inhibition, NSSI resistance activity, and NSSI recovery motivation as dependent variables and with parenting styles, attachment to parents, and self-compassion as independent variables.

Results

Compared with adolescents with no NSSI behavior, those who had engaged in NSSI within the past year had higher scores on the HAMD, as well as higher EMBU-negative father parental behavior (punishment, excessive interference, rejection, and overprotection), EMBU-negative mother parental behavior (excessive interference, rejection, and punishment), and SCS negative self-compassion scores. Moreover, adolescents with NSSI had lower EMBU-father emotional warmth, EMBU-mother emotional warmth, IPPA-attachment to father, IPPA-attachment to mother, and SCS positive self-compassion scores. Current depressive symptoms and maternal punishment are risk factors for NSSI in adolescents, while positive self-compassion was a protective factor. Positive self-compassion can positively predict NSSI impulse inhibition, NSSI resistance activity, and NSSI recovery motivation. However, we unexpectedly found that the father's emotional warmth negatively predicts NSSI resistance activity.

Conclusion

This study found that positive self-compassion has a significant impact on the prevention of and recovery from NSSI behavior in adolescents.

The association between child maltreatment, cognitive reappraisal, negative coping styles, and non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents with major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant public health concern among adolescents with major depressive disorders (MDD). Although previous research has linked child maltreatment (CM) to NSSI, the precise mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between CM, cognitive reappraisal (CR), negative coping styles (NC) and NSSI in adolescents with MDD, from the perspectives of both Latent Variable Theory and the Network Theory of Mental Disorder.

METHODS

A sample of 651 adolescents with MDD was recruited from January to December 2023. Data on CM, CR, NC, and NSSI were collected through paper-based self-reported questionnaires. Data analysis primarily involved structural equation modeling and network analysis.

RESULTS

The reporting rate of NSSI among adolescents with MDD was 48.2%. CM showed a significant positive correlation with NSSI. NSSI was affected by CM through three paths: the mediating role of CR, the mediating role of NC, and the chain mediating role of both CR and NC. Emotional abuse (EA) was the central node, while NSSI, EA, and "The urge to cry quietly when faced with troubles"(NC10) were the key bridge nodes.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first to use both structural equation modeling and network analysis to explore the explore the relationship between CM, CR, NC, and NSSI in adolescents with MDD, providing a theoretical basis for future early prevention and targeted interventions for adolescents with MDD.

Longitudinal relationship between harsh parenting and adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: The roles of basic psychological needs frustration and self-concept clarity

BACKGROUND

Harsh parenting has been shown to be associated with adolescents' non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior. However, less is known about the mechanism underlying the association.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to use a one-year longitudinal design to investigate the mediating role of basic psychological needs frustration and the moderating role of self-concept clarity in the association between harsh parenting and NSSI.

METHODS

Three waves of data (called T1, T2 and T3) were collected 6 months apart, between April 2021 and 2022, in a sample of 786 Chinese adolescents (52.0 % girls; Mage at Wave 1 = 13.27 years). Structural equation model was used to test a longitudinal moderated mediation model, with gender, age and baseline NSSI as covariates.

RESULTS

The results showed process of mediation in which T1 harsh parenting was longitudinally and positively associated with T3 NSSI through T2 basic psychological needs frustration. Furthermore, moderated mediation analyses revealed that T2 self-concept clarity buffered the adverse impact of T2 needs frustration on T3 NSSI, thereby mitigating the mediation process.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings support the self-determination theory, and suggest that fostering adolescents' self-concept clarity and satisfying their psychological needs may be useful in programs designed to lower the risk of NSSI.

Mother phubbing and harsh mothering: Mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender as moderators

BACKGROUND

While extant evidence supports the link between mother phubbing (Mphubbing) and harsh mothering, the current understanding of factors that may affect this relationship is limited.

METHODS

Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation between Mphubbing and harsh mothering, as well as to explore whether mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender would moderate this relationship. The participants included 482 middle school students (51.7 % girls) and their mothers from China.

RESULTS

The results revealed a significant positive association between Mphubbing as reported by adolescents and their perception of harsh mothering. However, the predictive power of Mphubbing for harsh mothering varied based on mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender. Specifically, the association between Mphubbing and harsh mothering was perceived more strongly in girls than in boys, but this gender difference was only observed among adolescents whose mothers rated themselves as high in irritability.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study offers a preliminary understanding of the association between Mphubbing and harsh mothering through mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender as moderators, which has certain theoretical and practical implications for comprehending harsh mothering in the digital age.