Brief report: the association between non-suicidal self-injury, self-concept and acquaintance with self-injurious peers in a sample of adolescents.
The current study investigated the association between non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), self-concept and acquaintance with NSSI peers in a sample of 150 high school students (60% female) with a mean age of 15.56 (SD=2.00) years. Analyses showed that students with NSSI rated themselves lower on academic intelligence, physical attractiveness, social skills and emotional stability than their non-NSSI peers. The self-injurers also had more friends who engaged in NSSI, and having more NSSI acquaintances was negatively related to self-esteem. It could be that adolescents with lower self-esteem are more attracted to self-injuring peers, or that adolescents with low self-esteem are more vulnerable to copy NSSI to deal with their problems or to gain a certain identity in their peer group. Future studies must test these possible NSSI pathways.
Claes
Laurence
L
Department of Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, Belgium. laurence.claes@psy.kuleuven.be
Houben
Adinda
A
Vandereycken
Walter
W
Bijttebier
Patricia
P
Muehlenkamp
Jennifer
J
D000293:Adolescent; D001530:Belgium; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012925:Social Conformity; D012933:Social Identification