Poster #63 - Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among Adolescents in Switzerland

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Recent research from the United States reports that adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a severe public health problem (Monto, McRee, & Deryck, 2018). NSSI is thought to arise, in part, as a maladaptive coping mechanism that adolescents use to deal with emotional distress. In turn, NSSI is associated with additional mental health risks, including depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. To date, longitudinal investigations of NSSI are rare in European community samples, and, indeed, largely missing in Switzerland.
The current study examined the prevalence, frequency, and longitudinal trajectory of NSSI in adolescents growing up in Switzerland. It also investigated demographic and psychosocial risk factors (e.g., adverse life events, schooling trajectories) associated with the emergence of NSSI. Furthermore, the study examined NSSI within the broader context of adolescent mental health problems.
Data came from the ongoing longitudinal Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso). Since 2004, this study examines the psychosocial development of 1,400 youth living in the Zurich area. Data collection started when children entered 1st grade. Self-reports of NSSI are currently available at ages 13, 15, and 17; age 20 data will be available by Spring 2019. Frequency of NSSI in the past month was assessed on a five-point scale (“never” to “very often”).
The overall prevalence of NSSI was at 13%, 11%, and 10% for ages 13, 15, and 17, respectively, which is within the range reported by recent cross-national reviews (Muehlenkamp et al., 2012; Swannell et al., 2014). Remarkable sex differences in the prevalence and severity of NSSI emerged, which, in turn, changed with age (Figure 1). In males, the prevalence of NSSI declined from ages 13 to 17; in females, prevalence peaked at age 15, when 1 in 6 females reported NSSI in the past month. Longitudinal stability of NSSI increased with age, particularly in females. Furthermore, NSSI was positively correlated with depressive symptoms/anxiety and also with suicidal ideation. The latter association strengthened with age in females: 60% and 76% of females with NSSI also reported suicidal ideation at ages 15 and 17.
Table 1 shows odds ratios from bivariate logistic regression analyses that predicted any NSSI at a given age with select life events in the past one or two years. Exposure to sexual harassment/assault, relationship breakup, and grade retention/failure of an important exam were associated with increased risk for NSSI across all ages. Parental divorce predicted NSSI in early adolescence only; death of a loved one did not predict NSSI. Future analyses will test multivariate models that also adjust for socioeconomic factors. Future analyses will also test whether social support and connection weaken associations between adverse life events and NSSI. Additional analyses will particularly focus on the role of school-related events on NSSI, considering that Swiss adolescents face several highly stressful school transitions in their late adolescent years.
Our study is the first large-scale longitudinal community study of NSSI in Switzerland, and provides new insights into this troubling behavior that affects many young people at some point in their lives.

Authors

• Annekatrin Steinhoff, Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich
  Presenting Author

• Denis Ribeaud, Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich
  Non-Presenting Author

• Manuel Eisner, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge and Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lilly Shanahan, Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich
  Non-Presenting Author