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Peer Acceptance and Nonsuicidal Self-injury among Chinese Adolescents: A Longitudinal Moderated Mediation Model

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Peer relationship plays an important role in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, little is known about how and in what conditions peer relationship may influence NSSI. By integrating multiple theories (i.e., attachment theory, the emotional regulation model of self-compassion and NSSI, and the differential-susceptibility theory), the current study investigated two potential mediators (i.e., self-compassion and depressive symptoms) and one potential moderator (i.e., behavioral impulsivity) of the relation between peer acceptance and NSSI. Participants were 813 Chinese adolescents (43% female; Mage at Wave 1 = 13.15 years) from a two-wave longitudinal study with data spanning one year. The results revealed that the indirect pathways linking peer acceptance and NSSI were conditioned on the level of behavioral impulsivity. Specifically, for adolescents with lower levels of impulsivity, a higher level of peer acceptance was related to fewer depressive symptoms directly or indirectly through self-compassion; fewer depressive symptoms, in turn, were linked to fewer NSSI behaviors longitudinally. For adolescents with higher levels of behavioral impulsivity, peer acceptance was related to fewer NSSI behaviors only through self-compassion. Results indicate that increasing peer acceptance is important in reducing adolescent NSSI. Interventions designed to reduce adolescent NSSI may also be effective if they focus on promoting adolescent self-compassion, particularly for adolescents with higher levels of behavioral impulsivity.

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Author’s Contributions

N.W. conceived of the study, conducted statistical analysis, interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript; H.Y. participated in the design of the study and the interpretation of the data, and helped to draft the manuscript; P.C. participated in the review of the literature and conducted statistical analysis. J.Y. participated in the design of the study and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31771228), the Project of Key Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, MOE (17JJD190001), and Guangdong Youth Research Project (2018WT005). This study was also supported by Research Center for Crisis Intervention and Psychological Service of Guangdong Province, South China Normal University and the base of psychological services and counseling for “Happiness” in Guangzhou. This study was also supported by the Guangdong Planning office of Philosophy and Social Science (GD17XXL05), the Guangzhou Planning office of Philosophy and Social Science (2018GZQN47) and the Department of Education in Guangdong Province (2017WQNCX116).

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The data analyzed in the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong University of Education, Department of Psychology, School of Education, No. 351 XinGangZhong Road, Guangzhou, 510303, P. R. China

    Nini Wu & Peiyi Chen

  2. University of Kentucky, Department of Family Sciences, 318 Funkhouser Building, Lexington, KY, 40506-0054, USA

    Yang Hou

  3. Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, & School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, P. R. China

    Jianing You

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  1. Nini Wu
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Wu, N., Hou, Y., Chen, P. et al. Peer Acceptance and Nonsuicidal Self-injury among Chinese Adolescents: A Longitudinal Moderated Mediation Model. J Youth Adolescence 48, 1806–1817 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01093-0

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