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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1434191
This article is part of the Research Topic Suicidality and self-injury behaviours across the Lifespan in mental and substance use disorders View all 8 articles

Nonsuicidal Self-injury as the Gateway and Consequence of Suicidal Ideation among Adolescents: A Cross-lagged Regression Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Nianqin Li Nianqin Li 1Yaxin Kong Yaxin Kong 1*Lin Lin Lin Lin 1*Yu Liu Yu Liu 2Huan Zhang Huan Zhang 1Yunfeng He Yunfeng He 3*Song Zhao Song Zhao 3*
  • 1 Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
  • 2 Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 3 Liaoning University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: There is a consensus that both nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal ideation as risk factors for suicidal behavior have a strong connection.However, a lack of longitudinal information has limited the clarification of the concrete relationship between them. Aims: This study aimed to examine the specific mechanism between NSSI and suicidal ideation over time, during adolescence.Method: A longitudinal study was conducted with 193 Chinese adolescents. NSSI and suicidal ideations were examined over the course of a 1year followed-up, and three waves of data were collected. Results: The NSSI at time T1 significantly positively predicted suicidal ideation at time T2; Suicidal ideation at time T2 also significantly positively predicted NSSI at time T3. Limitations: Given that the small number of participants with suicidal ideation and NSSI, the findings of the study should be interpreted with caution and a lager sample is needed in the future. Conclusion: It was suggested that NSSI may occur before suicidal ideation, which in turn would strengthen NSSI, so interventions should be carried out from two aspects (behaviors and thoughts) to improve adolescents' mental health.

    Keywords: nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, Chinese adolescents, cross-lagged regression, longitudinal study Zhansheng Xu: Formal analysis, methodology, Software, visualization, Writingoriginal draft, Writingreview & editing, Yaxin Kong: Formal analysis, Lin Lin: Methodology

    Received: 22 May 2024; Accepted: 23 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Kong, Lin, Liu, Zhang, He and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yaxin Kong, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
    Lin Lin, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
    Yunfeng He, Liaoning University, Shenyang, 110036, Liaoning Province, China
    Song Zhao, Liaoning University, Shenyang, 110036, Liaoning Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.