AUTHOR=Yu Haoran , Mu Qinglei , Li Ke 

TITLE=Effects of physical exercise on non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents: the chain mediating role of perceived social support and self-concept

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1201863

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1201863

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Objective</title><p>To study the effect of physical exercise on non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents and to verify the chain mediating role of perceived social support and self-concept. Methods: A survey study was conducted on 1,426 adolescents in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. A chain mediation model was used to verify whether perceived social support and self-concept played a mediating role.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Results</title><p>Physical exercise was significantly negatively associated with non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents (β = −0.53, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) and significantly positively associated with perceived social support and self-concept (β = 0.52, 0.54, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01), and perceived social support and self-concept were significantly negatively associated with non-suicidal self-injury (β = −0.59, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01; β = −0.64, p &lt; 0.01), and perceived social support was able to significantly and positively associate self-concept (β = 0.76, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01).</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Perceived social support and self-concept play a chain mediating role in the effect of physical exercise on non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents, and it is recommended that the development of perceived social support and self-concept be emphasized during adolescents’ development, which has the potential to reduce the incidence of non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors in adolescents.</p></sec>