Prevalence Of Non-suicidal Self-injury In Nursing Students And Its Relationship With Alexithymia,Parenting Styles

ObjectiveWe investigated NSSI(non-suicidal self-injury)behavior among nursing students,as well as its relationship with alexithymia and parental bonding.This article explores factors affecting NSSI behavior and provides a theoretical basis for the treatment of adolescents' NSSI behavior.MethodWe conducted a questionnaire survey on 2024 nursing students from three medical schools in Shandong Province,using convenience sampling method.Our research instruments include general demographic sociology questionnaire,adolescents'self-injury questionnaire(Zheng Ying),Toronto alexithymia scale(TAS-20),and parental bonding instrument(PBI).We retrieved 2,024 questionnaires,of which 2,019 are valid.The data were then categorized and analyzed by statistical software SPSS 22.0.Categorized data were compared by chi-square test and Fisher's exact test,inter-group continuous variables were compared by Student's t-test,risk factors were analyzed by bivariate logistic regression.Results1.Characteristics of NSSI behavior of nursing studentsDetection rate of NSSI behavior is 14.86%among the 2,019 nursing students.The most common NSSI behavior is "pulling their own hair"(52%),followed by "cutting through their skin with knives or pieces of glass"(49.7%).The most common motive for NSSI behavior is "to release bad feelings or emotions"(61%),followed by"self-punishment for their mistakes"(22.7%).Variance analysis on general demographic sociological data revealed significant differences in NSSI detection rate among genders,grades,and family types.2.Alexithymia and parental bonding scales between nursing students with and without NSSI behaviorWe conducted t-test on independent samples of alexithymia scales and found that the difference between nursing students with and without NSSI behavior is statistically significant(p<0.01).The alexithymia scales of nursing students with NSSI behavior(56.04±9.22)is significantly higher than the scales of those without NSSI(48.85±9.86).The difference comes from all three dimensions of alexithymia(p<0.01):difficulty identifying feelings,difficulty describing feelings,and externally oriented cognitive style.Scales on the three dimensions are significantly higher among nursing students with NSSI behavior.Independent sample t-test on parental bonding scales between nursing students with and without NSSI behavior showed statistically significant difference(p<0.01)in caring,encouraging,and controlling factors of both maternal and paternal sub-scales.Nursing students with NSSI behavior exhibit significantly lower scores in maternal caring(21.20±5.70 vs 24.14±5.90),maternal encouraging(9.95±3.91 vs 10.91±3.94),paternal caring(19.55±6.20 vs 22.86±6.26),and paternal encouraging(10.23±3.93 vs 11.22±3.91),but their scores are significantly higher in maternal controlling(6.631±3.58 vs 5.43±3.74)and paternal controlling(6.03±3.49 vs 4.96±3.86).3.Regression analysis on factors affecting NSSI behaviorWhether or not a student has NSSI behavior(1 for yes,0 for no)is used as the independent variable.Dependent variables include genders,grades,family types,TAS scores in difficulty identifying feelings,difficulty describing feelings,and externally oriented cognitive style,PBI scores in maternal caring,maternal encouraging,maternal controlling,paternal caring,paternal encouraging,and paternal controlling.Bivariate logistic regression showed that male gender,lower grades(OR=1.589,P=0.011),and difficulty identifying feelings(OR=1.079,P=0.000)have positive prediction effect on NSSI behavior,while paternal caring(OR=0.959,P =0.013)has negative prediction effect.Conclusion1.The detection rate of NSSI behavior among nursing students falls into a lower medium level.The most frequent NSSI behavior is "pulling their own hair".The primary motive is "to release bad feelings or emotions".The most common external stimulus is "too much pressure on study and employment."2.Nursing students with NSSI behavior exhibit significantly higher alexithymia scales than those without NSSI.Nursing students with NSSI behavior receive less caring and encouraging from their parents but experienced more parental controlling.3.Male gender,lower grades(age),and difficulty identifying feelings are risk factors of NSSI behavior,while paternal caring is a preventive factor.