The role of parental psychopathology and personality in adolescent non-suicidal self-injury.
Adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), a significant risk factor for suicidal behavior, is strongly associated with adolescent psychopathology and personality traits, particularly those characterized by poor self-regulation. Some parental psychopathology and personality traits have also been identified as risk factors for adolescent NSSI, but specific parental characteristics and mechanisms involved in this association have not been systematically examined. The current study comprehensively investigated the contribution of parental psychopathology and personality to adolescent NSSI using data from the baseline wave of the Adolescent Development of Emotion and Personality Traits (ADEPT) study of 550 adolescent girls (mean age = 14.39 years, SD = 0.63) and their biological parents. We first investigated whether parental lifetime psychiatric diagnoses, and personality and clinical (rumination, self-criticism, emotional reliance) traits were associated with adolescent NSSI. We also tested whether adolescent history of psychiatric illness, personality, and clinical traits mediated the associations between parental characteristics and adolescent NSSI. Parental substance use disorder, adult-ADHD symptoms, self-criticism, and lower agreeableness and conscientiousness were associated with offspring's NSSI. These associations were mediated through adolescent characteristics. In contrast, parental mood and anxiety disorders and neuroticism were unrelated to adolescent NSSI. The results suggest that parental traits and disorders characterized by self-regulatory difficulties and lack of support constitute risk factors for self-injury in adolescent girls, acting via adolescent traits. This demonstrates that parental influences play a significant role in the etiology of adolescent NSSI.
Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA.
Molly A
MA
Gromatsky
Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Monika A
MA
Waszczuk
Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Greg
G
Perlman
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Katie Lee
KL
Salis
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Daniel N
DN
Klein
Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA. Electronic address: roman.kotov@stonybrook.edu.
Roman
R
Kotov
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D010556:Personality Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
ADHD; Adolescence; Non-suicidal self-injury; Personality; Self-criticism