Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
J Youth Adolesc. 2022 Dec;51(12):2383-2395. doi: 10.1007/s10964-022-01669-3. Epub 2022 Aug 20.
For many adolescents, the COVID-19 pandemic represents a uniquely challenging period, and concerns have been raised about whether COVID-19-related stress may increase the risk for self-injurious behaviors among adolescents. This study examined the impact of pre-existing vulnerabilities on the occurrence and frequency of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) through COVID-19-related stress, and whether the impact of COVID-19-related stress on NSSI was buffered by the perceived social support during the pandemic. Participants were 1061 adolescents (52.40% females; M = 15.49 years, SD = 0.76) from a two-wave longitudinal study, which included assessments before the COVID-19 onset and one year later the declaration of the pandemic. Path analyses showed that adolescents with a prior history of NSSI, higher levels of internalizing symptoms, and poor regulatory emotional self-efficacy before the COVID-19 pandemic reported higher levels of COVID-19-related stress which in turn increased their risk to engage in NSSI. Besides, the findings did not support the role of social support as a moderator of the association between COVID-19 related stress and the occurrence/frequency of NSSI. These findings suggest that enhanced stress perception may serve as a key pathway for the continuation and development of NSSI among vulnerable adolescents facing adverse life events.
对于许多青少年来说，新冠疫情代表着一个极具挑战性的时期，人们担心新冠疫情相关压力是否会增加青少年自残行为的风险。本研究通过新冠疫情相关压力，考察了先前存在的脆弱性对非自杀性自我伤害（NSSI）的发生和频率的影响，以及在疫情期间感知到的社会支持是否缓冲了新冠疫情相关压力对 NSSI 的影响。参与者为来自一项两波纵向研究的 1061 名青少年（52.40%为女性；M = 15.49 岁，SD = 0.76），该研究包括在新冠疫情爆发前和疫情宣布一年后进行的评估。路径分析表明，在新冠疫情大流行之前，有过 NSSI 史、内化症状水平较高和情绪调节自我效能感较差的青少年报告称，他们面临更高水平的新冠疫情相关压力，而这反过来又增加了他们从事 NSSI 的风险。此外，研究结果并不支持社会支持作为新冠疫情相关压力与 NSSI 发生/频率之间关联的调节因素的作用。这些发现表明，增强的压力感知可能是易受伤害的青少年在面临不利生活事件时继续和发展 NSSI 的关键途径。
