Gender difference in the associations of childhood maltreatment and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents with mood disorders

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Feng Zhu¹  Xinchuan Lu¹  Xuna Yang¹  Zhe Li¹  Xueli Zhao¹  Zhengyan Wu¹  Xiangdong Du¹  Yi Wang¹  Ping Zhu¹  Ruchang Yang²  Yan Yue² 

[1] Suzhou Guangji Hospital, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;Suzhou Guangji Hospital, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;

关键词: non-suicidal self-injury;    adolescent;    childhood maltreatment;    mood disorder;    gender difference;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1162450

 received in 2023-02-09, accepted in 2023-05-09,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a common feature among adolescents with mood disorders. Although childhood maltreatment has shown to be associated with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), previous studies have yielded mixed results in terms of different subtypes of childhood maltreatment and only few studies have investigated the effects of gender. The present cross-sectional study investigated effects of different types of childhood maltreatment on NSSI, as well as the role of gender in these effects.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a total of 142 Chinese adolescent inpatients with mood disorders (37 males and 105 females) were consecutively recruited within a psychiatric hospital. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected. Participants were administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation (FASM).Results76.8% of the sample reported engaging NSSI in the previous 12  months. Female participants were more likely to engage in NSSI than males (p < 0.001). Participants in the NSSI group reported significantly more experiences of emotional abuse (p < 0.001) and emotional neglect (p = 0.005). With regards to gender differences, female participants who have experienced emotional abuse were more likely to engage in NSSI (p = 0.03).ConclusionAs a whole, NSSI represents a frequent phenomenon among adolescent clinical populations and females were more likely to engage in NSSI than males. NSSI was significantly related to experiences of childhood maltreatment and specifically related to emotional abuse and emotional neglect over and above other types of childhood maltreatment. Females were more sensitive to emotional abuse than males. Our study highlights the importance of screening for subtypes of childhood maltreatment as well as considering the effects of gender.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Yue, Wang, Yang, Zhu, Yang, Lu, Zhu, Wu, Li, Zhao and Du.