Citation

Thomassin K, Guérin Marion C, Venasse M, Shaffer A. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry Ment. Health 2017; 11: e21.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 300 Hooper Street, Athens, GA 30606 USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s13034-017-0158-3

PMID

28413442

PMCID

PMC5390354

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a behavior of increasing prevalence in adolescents with links to various negative mental health and adjustment outcomes. Poor emotion expression has been linked with NSSI use, whereas the use of adaptive coping strategies has been identified as a protective factor against NSSI. The current study examined whether specific coping strategies moderate the relation between poor emotion expression and NSSI, and whether moderation is conditional on adolescent gender.

METHODS: Ninety-five adolescents hospitalized on an acute care inpatient psychiatric unit completed questionnaires measuring NSSI, emotion expression and use of specific coping strategies (i.e., problem-focused coping, positive reframing coping, support seeking, avoidance, and distraction).

RESULTS: Results indicated that poor emotion expression was positively associated with NSSI. Positive reframing and support seeking emerged as significant moderators of the poor emotion expression-NSSI link. This result was not conditional upon adolescent gender. Problem-focused coping, avoidance, and distraction did not emerge as significant moderators.

CONCLUSIONS: Encouraging youth to use particular coping strategies might protect against the negative impact of emotion expression deficits for both boys and girls.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent; Coping; Nonsuicidal self-injury