Risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents: A meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents is a significant mental health problem around the world. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to systematically delineate the risk factors for NSSI. Method We searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane for relevant articles and abstracts published prior to 12 November 2021. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confident intervals (CIs) were used to assess various risk factors, and publication bias was assessed by Egger's test, the trim and fill method and meta-regression. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42021265885. Results A total of 25 articles were eventually included in the analysis. Eighty risk factors were identified and classified into 7 categories: mental disorders (ORs, 1·89; 95% CI, 1·60–2·24), bullying (ORs, 1·98; 95% CI, 1·32–2·95), low health literacy (ORs, 2·20; 95% CI, 1·63–2·96), problem behaviours (ORs, 2·36; 95% CI, 2·00–2·77), adverse childhood experiences (ORs, 2·49; 95% CI, 1·85–3.34), physical symptoms (ORs, 2·85; 95% CI, 1·36–5·97) and the female gender (ORs, 2·89; 95% CI, 2·43–3·43). The range of heterogeneity (I 2 ) was from 20·3% to 99·2%. Conclusion This meta-analysis found that mental disorders, low health literacy, adverse childhood experiences, bullying, problem behaviours, the female gender and physical symptoms appear to be risk factors for NSSI. Funding NSFC grant (81,822,017), National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFA0113600), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China (No. LY19H090015), Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science - Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions (NYKFKT20190020), Shanghai Municipal Education Commission - Gaofeng Clinical Medicine Grant Support (20,181,715), Social Science Foundation of China (BIAl80167).
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The risk of self-harm was more prevalent in female youth compared to male youth.
“The most reported risk factor for self-harm was gender; Gillies et al. (2018), Xiao et al. (2022), and Wang et al. (2022), all identified that the risk of self-harm was more prevalent in female youth compared to male youth.”
From Risk and Protective Factors of Self-harm and Suicidality in Adolescents: An Umbrella Review with Meta-Analysis (2024) · cites this paper as Wang et al. (2022)
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Richardson, R., Connell, T., Foster, M., Blamires, J., Keshoor, S., Moir, C., & Zeng, I. S. (2024) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-024-01969-w · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“The most reported risk factor for self-harm was gender; Gillies et al. (2018), Xiao et al. (2022), and Wang et al. (2022), all identi fi ed that the risk of self-harm was more prevalent in female youth compared to male youth.”
BackgroundInfluentialCalvo, N., Lugo-Marín, J., Oriol, M., Pérez-Galbarro, C., Restoy, D., Ramos-Quiroga, J.-A., & Ferrer, M. (2024) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107048 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Wang, Y.-J., Li, X., Ng, C. H., Xu, D.-W., Hu, S., & Yuan, T.-F.
- Affiliations
- Wenzhou Medical University (CN)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University (CN)
- Tongji University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Hu, Shaohua
- Yuan, Ti-Fei
- Venue
- eClinicalMedicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-04
- Volume
- 46
- Pages
- 101350
- ISSN
- 2589-5370 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8938878
- OpenAlex
- W4221048957
- Cited by
- 294
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 88 · 2025: 91 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 15
- FWCI
- 8.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- EClinicalMedicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY19H090015)
- National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFA0113600)
- Shanghai Municipal Education Commission
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81,822,017)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- non-suicidal self-injury, adolescents, risk factors, mental illness, bullying, low health literacy, behavioral problems, adverse childhood experiences, somatic symptoms, female gender, gender differences, adolescent mental health
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