Citation

Peh CX, Shahwan S, Fauziana R, Mahesh MV, Sambasivam R, Zhang Y, Ong SH, Chong SA, Subramaniam M. Child Abuse Negl. 2017; 67: 383-390.

Affiliation

Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.03.013

PMID

28371647

Abstract

Although child maltreatment exposure is a recognized risk factor for self-harm, mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Self-harm may function as a compensatory strategy to regulate distressing emotions. This cross-sectional study examines if emotion dysregulation mediates between the severity of maltreatment exposure and self-harm, adjusting for demographic variables and depressive symptoms. Participants were 108 adolescent patients recruited from a psychiatric hospital in Singapore (mean age 17.0 years, SD=1.65; 59.3% female). Study measures included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation (FASM), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8). Path analysis was conducted to examine the direct and indirect effects of maltreatment exposure on self-harm via emotion dysregulation, controlling for demographic variables and depressive symptoms. Indirect effects were tested using bootstrapped confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS showed that self-harm was highly prevalent in our sample (75.9%). Emotion dysregulation and depressive symptoms were found to be associated with higher self-harm frequency. In addition, results from path analysis showed that the association between the severity of maltreatment exposure and self-harm frequency was significantly mediated by emotion dysregulation B=0.07, p<0.05, 95% CI [0.02, 0.16]. Thus, emotion dysregulation may be a proximal mechanism linking maltreatment exposure and adolescent self-harm. Notably, self-harm may represent maladaptive attempts to manage emotion dysregulation that may have resulted from maltreatment.

FINDINGS from the study have implications for the prevention and treatment of self-harm in maltreated youth.

Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescents; Child abuse; Child maltreatment; Emotion dysregulation; Self-harm