Abstract
BackgroundAdolescence is characterized by developmental changes in social relationships, which may contribute to, or protect against, psychopathology and risky behaviors. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one type of risky behavior that typically begins during adolescence and is associated with problems in relationships with family members and peers. Prior research on social factors in adolescent NSSI has been limited, however, by a narrow focus on specific interpersonal domains, cross-sectional methods, retrospective self-report of childhood experiences, and a failure to predict NSSI onset among as-yet-unaffected youth.MethodsWe investigated these relationships in 2127 urban-living adolescent girls with no NSSI history at age 13, who were participating in a longitudinal cohort study (Pittsburgh Girls Study). We used discrete-time survival analyses to examine the contribution of time-varying interpersonal risk factors, assessed yearly at ages 13–16, to NSSI onset assessed in the following year (ages 14–17), controlling for relevant covariates, such as depression and race. We considered both behavioral indicators (parental discipline, positive parenting, parental monitoring, peer victimization), and cognitive/affective indicators (quality of attachment to parent, perceptions of peers, and perceptions of one’s own social competence and worth in relation to peers) of interpersonal difficulties.ResultsParental harsh punishment, low parental monitoring, and poor quality of attachment to parent predicted increased odds of subsequent adolescent NSSI onset, whereas positive parenting behaviors reduced the odds of next year NSSI onset. Youth who reported more frequent peer victimization, poorer social self-worth and self-competence, and more negative perceptions of peers were also at increased risk of NSSI onset in the following year. When tested simultaneously, no single parenting variable showed a unique association with later NSSI onset; in contrast, peer victimization and poor social self-worth each predicted increased odds of later NSSI onset in an omnibus model of peer and parent relationship characteristics.ConclusionsIn this urban sample of adolescent girls, both peer and parent factors predicted new onset NSSI, although only peer factors were associated with subsequent NSSI in combined multivariate models. Results further suggest that both behavioral and cognitive/affective indicators of interpersonal problems predict NSSI onset. These findings highlight the relevance of family and peer relationships to NSSI onset, with implications for prevention of NSSI onset among at-risk youth.
Highlights
Adolescence is characterized by developmental changes in social relationships, which may contribute to, or protect against, psychopathology and risky behaviors
Despite evidence that youth Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) often occurs in response to interpersonal stressors [13] and can be reinforced by social factors [11, 14], there is a paucity of research examining both family and peer relationships as predictors of NSSI onset
Time‐invariant and time‐varying covariates Across ages 14–17, NSSI onset was significantly associated with race (OR = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.39, 0.90], p = 0.01), indicating that girls of minority racial background were less likely to experience NSSI onset during this timeframe compared to white girls
Summary
Adolescence is characterized by developmental changes in social relationships, which may contribute to, or protect against, psychopathology and risky behaviors. Despite evidence that youth NSSI often occurs in response to interpersonal stressors [13] and can be reinforced by social factors [11, 14], there is a paucity of research examining both family and peer relationships as predictors of NSSI onset. To address these limitations, we focus on understanding parenting and peer-related risk factors for NSSI onset using prospectively collected data in a large urban sample of adolescent girls
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.