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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1357710

Non-suicidal self-injury in the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from cross-sectional surveys among Brazilian adults from 2020 to 2023

Provisionally accepted
Andre Faro Andre Faro 1*Walter Lisboa Walter Lisboa 1Brenda F. Silva-Ferraz Brenda F. Silva-Ferraz 1Derek Falk Derek Falk 2*
  • 1 Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil
  • 2 Case Medical Center, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States

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

    The multilevel psychosocial stressors associated with COVID-19 pandemic set the stage to investigate risk factors and groups susceptible for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). A national sample of 9,929 Brazilian adults aged 36.1 years on average participated in the study. Cross-sectional data were collected in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. NSSI levels were considered high in the total sample (13.2%) when compared to other studies in this context. The variables with the highest explanatory power in the regression models were age, anxiety, and depression. The main risk factors were being younger, living in the South or Southeast regions of Brazil, having lower educational attainment, and having higher rates of anxiety and depression. Respondents had the highest probability of NSSI in 2022. The sustained higher rates of NSSI in 2023 compared to the beginning of the pandemic underscores the need for continuous monitoring and the development of preventive actions for selfinjurious behaviors.

    Keywords: Non-suicidal self-injury, COVID-19, Anxiety, Depression, Mental Health

    Received: 18 Dec 2023; Accepted: 03 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Faro, Lisboa, Silva-Ferraz and Falk. 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:
    Andre Faro, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, 49100-000, Sergipe, Brazil
    Derek Falk, Case Medical Center, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States

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