Citation

Gromatsky MA, He S, Perlman G, Klein DN, Kotov R, Waszczuk MA. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1016/j.jaac.2019.08.006

PMID

31445872

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant risk factor for suicidal behavior and an important clinical marker of psychopathology. NSSI is especially common in adolescent girls. A number of psychosocial correlates of adolescent NSSI have been identified, including problems characterized by disinhibition and negative affectivity. However, it is unknown if these characteristics prospectively predict first-onset NSSI, limiting our understanding of its etiology and prevention. The current study addresses this gap in the literature.

METHOD: Participants in the Adolescent Development of Emotion and Personality Traits (ADEPT) project at Stony Brook University who had not experienced NSSI at baseline (462 girls, mean age=14.39 years, SD=0.62 years) completed baseline measures of hypothesized risk factors related to problems with disinhibition and negative affectivity, including adolescent psychopathology, personality and clinical traits, and parental psychopathology. First-onset of NSSI was monitored at 9-month intervals by in-person and phone interviews over the next 36 months.

RESULTS: There were 42 first-onsets of NSSI (9.1%) in the 3 years since baseline. First-onset NSSI was independently predicted by adolescents' low conscientiousness, high avoidance, and parental substance abuse at baseline. The composite risk index predicting first-onset NSSI demonstrated good accuracy for identifying girls who will start self-injuring (AUC=0.78, sensitivity = 0.85, specificity = 0.57).

CONCLUSION: These results highlight the role of disinhibition and avoidance in the development of NSSI. The risk index predicting NSSI onset may help guide the design and application of novel interventions to prevent this condition in adolescent girls.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescence; cortisol; non-suicidal self-injury; personality