Borderline personality traits mediate the relationship between low perceived social support and non-suicidal self-injury in a clinical sample of adolescents

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious public health concern among adolescents, especially in clinical settings. Social support plays a critical role in the onset and maintenance of NSSI in adolescence. NSSI is closely associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD), yet no p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Mendez, Iria|||0000-0002-1861-6968, Sintes Estevez, Anna|||0000-0001-8496-9916, Pascual, Juan Carlos|||0000-0001-8039-9346, Puntí Vidal, Joaquim|||0000-0001-6572-3398, Lara, Anaís, Briones-Buixassa, Laia|||0000-0001-6020-9672, Nicolaou, Stella|||0000-0002-1981-8895, Schmidt, Carlos|||0000-0002-5927-4554, Romero, Soledad|||0000-0001-9934-5196, Fernández, Marta, Carmona i Farrés, Cristina|||0000-0002-7028-3697, Soler, Joaquim|||0000-0001-8077-3641, Santamarina, Pilar|||0000-0003-3806-1979, Vega, Daniel|||0000-0002-5621-8987
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:257010
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/257010
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.065
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Borderline personality disorder
Non-suicidal self-injury
Self-harm
Adolescents
Perceived social support
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious public health concern among adolescents, especially in clinical settings. Social support plays a critical role in the onset and maintenance of NSSI in adolescence. NSSI is closely associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD), yet no previous work has analyzed the mediating role of borderline traits in the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and NSSI. This study aimed to address this gap. Methods: Participants were 228 adolescent patients (12 to 18 years old), who completed a clinical interview and self-report measures of BPD-traits, current psychological distress, emotion dysregulation and PSS. They were grouped based on the presence (vs. absence) of NSSI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors of NSSI, and a mediation analysis was conducted to examine the intermediary role of borderline traits in the relationship between PSS and NSSI. Results: NSSI was highly prevalent in our sample (58%) and was associated with higher clinical severity. Low PSS predicted NSSI in univariate, but not multivariate regression. Mediation analyses showed that borderline traits fully accounted for the relationship between low PSS and NSSI, even when controlling for current psychological distress and gender. Limitations: Cross-sectional design through self-report assessment. Conclusions: Findings suggest that adolescents with low PSS are especially vulnerable for developing NSSI due to elevated BPD traits. In clinical settings, interventions aimed to reduce borderline symptoms may be a promising treatment option for adolescents with NSSI and low PSS.

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