Abstract
Greater childhood adversity predicts a higher likelihood of later self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB). There is little research focused on whether the timing of childhood adversity predicts SITB. The current research examined whether the timing of childhood adversity predicted parent- and youth-reported SITB at age 12 and 16 years in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) cohort (n = 970). We found that greater adversity at age 11-12 years consistently predicted SITB at age 12 years, while greater adversity at age 13-14 years consistently predicted SITB at age 16 years. These findings suggest there may be sensitive periods during which adversity may be more likely to lead to adolescent SITB, which can inform prevention and treatment.
Highlights
Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB), both suicidal and nonsuicidal, affect millions of people around the world annually
Nonsuicidal selfinjury (NSSI), which falls under the umbrella of self-harm, is quite common, with nearly 5.5% of adults and 17% of adolescents reporting engaging in these behaviors (Swannell, Martin, Page, Hasking, & St John, 2014)
One predictor of SITB is a higher number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) (Cleare et al, 2018), which are defined as experiences during one’s childhood that are characterized as potentially traumatic (CDC, 2019)
Summary
Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB), both suicidal and nonsuicidal, affect millions of people around the world annually. Suicide attempts are more common after experiencing childhood adversity, with one study finding them two to five times more likely varying across adversity type (Choi et al, 2017). An individual with three or more childhood adversities has a three times greater risk for suicidal ideation than an individual with no childhood adversities (Thompson, Kingree, & Lamis, 2019). This graded association has been demonstrated between the number of abusive experiences during childhood and NSSI (Wan, Chen, Sun, & Tao, 2015). If a negative event such as childhood adversity occurs, it can affect resilience processes and shift someone from a positive trajectory to a more negative one that could lead to psychopathology and SITB (Fergusson, Beautais, & Horwood, 2003)
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