A Study On The Mechanism Of Childhood Traumatic Experiences On Non-suicidal Self-injury Behavior In Adolescents

Adolescence is a critical period for physical and mental development,and at the same time adolescents are prone to various psychological and behavioral problems during this period.Non-suicidal self-injury behaviors are widespread among adolescents and are also a prominent mental health problem in high school students.As non-suicidal self-injury behaviour has a wider impact on the physical and mental health of adolescents,it is necessary to conduct a more in-depth study on its influencing factors and its influencing mechanisms,so as to provide a scientific reference for the prevention and intervention of non-suicidal self-injurious behaviour among adolescents.Traumatic experiences in childhood have been found to play a significant role in influencing nonsuicidal self-injury behaviours in adolescents.Moreover,there may be other influences between traumatic childhood experiences and nonsuicidal self-injury behavior,such as trait anger that may play an important indirect role.Therefore,this study further explored the role of childhood traumatic experiences on non-suicidal self-injury behaviours in adolescents and introduced trait anger as a mediating variable to explore its mechanism of action between childhood traumatic experiences and non-suicidal self-injury behaviours.The study was conducted in two steps:Study 1: A total of 1262 high school students at a high school in Sichuan province were surveyed using the Childhood Trauma Scale(CTQ-SF),Trait Anger Scale(TAS)and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Behavior Questionnaire to explore the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences,trait anger and non-suicidal self-injury behaviors.Study 2: The same questionnaires as Study 1 were used to conduct three follow-up surveys on a total of 282 high school students in Sichuan province to longitudinally explore the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences,trait anger,and non-suicidal self-injury behavior.The results of study 1 indicated that:(1)There were some differences in adolescents’ childhood traumatic experiences,trait anger,and non-suicidal self-injury behaviors on different demographic variables,respectively.(2)There were significant correlations between childhood traumatic experiences,trait anger,and non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors among adolescents.(3)The cross-sectional study showed that trait anger partially mediated the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and adolescents’ non-suicidal self-injury behaviors.The results of study 2 suggested that:(1)Adolescents’ traumatic childhood experiences,trait anger,and non-suicidal self-injury behavior did not change significantly across the three measures.(2)Childhood traumatic experiences at the prior time point significantly and positively predicted non-suicidal self-injury behavior at the subsequent time point,childhood traumatic experiences at the prior time point significantly and positively predicted trait anger at the subsequent time point,and trait anger at the prior time point significantly and positively predicted nonsuicidal self-injury behavior at the subsequent time point.(3)Longitudinal studies suggest that trait anger mediated longitudinally between childhood traumatic experiences and adolescents’ nonsuicidal self-injury behaviors.