ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1581640
This article is part of the Research TopicNavigating mental health through major life transitions: challenges and support across the lifespanView all articles
Profiles of caregiver burden among adolescents with non-suicidal selfinjury: a latent profile analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chongqing Mental Health Center, Chongqing, China
- 2School of Nursing, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
- 3Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents represents a significant global public health challenge, with lifetime prevalence rates demonstrating a consistent upward trajectory. Current evidence indicates that NSSI conveys elevated risks for both physical complications and psychological comorbidities, while simultaneously imposing a substantial burden on primary caregivers.Objective: This study applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to classify distinct caregiver burden profiles among adolescents with NSSI, identify modifiable determinants, and establish an empirical foundation for developing precision interventions stratified by burden type.Province, China, were selected as respondents and systematically assessed using six validated instruments: General Information Questionnaire, Family Burden Scale of Disease, Social Support Rating Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale. LPA with maximum likelihood estimation identified distinct caregiver burden profiles, and multinomial logistic regression to determine predictors of profile membership.The caregiver burden among adolescents with NSSI can be identified into three profiles: low burden-family vulnerability profile (34.5%), moderate burden-mental health priority profile (36.6%), and high burden-economic preponderance profile (28.9%). Female caregivers (OR = 3.760, p = 0.005), rural residents (OR = 3.666, p = 0.027), diminished social support (OR = 0.884, p = 0.016), and elevated anxiety severity (OR = 1.183, p = 0.027) exhibited heightened vulnerability to the moderate burden-mental health priority profile. Heightened depression symptoms (OR = 1.130, p = 0.037) and stronger illness-related stigma (OR = 1.063, p = 0.001) were disproportionately represented in both moderate burden-mental health priority profile and high burden-economic preponderance profile.Conclusions: This study delineates three distinct caregiver burden profiles among adolescents with NSSI, alongside sociodemographic and clinical predictors of profile membership. Tailored interventions, such as rapid mental health service linkage for high-burden subgroups and familycentered psychoeducation, can mitigate these burdens through stratified support mechanisms.
Keywords: Non-suicidal self-injury, adolescents, Caregivers, caregiver burden, latent profile analysis
Received: 22 Feb 2025; Accepted: 24 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qin, Liu, Duan and Yang. 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:
Jiming Duan, Chongqing Mental Health Center, Chongqing, China
Bo Yang, Chongqing Mental Health Center, Chongqing, China
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