The Relationship between Childhood Maltreatment and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Systematic Review

Gianluca Serafini, Giovanna Canepa, Giulia Adavastro, Jacopo Nebbia, Martino Belvederi Murri, Denise Erbuto, Benedetta Pocai, Andrea Fiorillo, Maurizio Pompili, Eirini Flouri, Mario Amore, Gianluca Serafini, Giovanna Canepa, Giulia Adavastro, Jacopo Nebbia, Martino Belvederi Murri, Denise Erbuto, Benedetta Pocai, Andrea Fiorillo, Maurizio Pompili, Eirini Flouri, Mario Amore

Abstract

Introduction: Childhood maltreatment (CM) has been associated with an increased risk of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behaviors. However, the exact nature of the association between CM and NSSI is currently unclear. The present review aimed to systematically investigate the association between CM and NSSI in adolescence and early adulthood.

Methods: A systematic search of four major electronic databases covering both medical and social science research (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and PsycINFO) was conducted.

Results: Overall, 20 cross-sectional studies including a total of 22,517 individuals, 3 longitudinal follow-up studies including 1,728 individuals, and 3 retrospective studies including 62,089 individuals were selected. It appears that CM is a significant risk factor for both NSSI and suicide attempts. The increased vulnerability to NSSI seems to be related to experiences of CM, particularly sexual abuse. Gender differences were also found. Generally, when compared to males, females who experienced CM seem to be more vulnerable to presenting with NSSI and suicidal behaviors.

Conclusion: There is a positive association between CM and NSSI. The importance of early detection and risk reduction of self-injurious behavior for adolescents is discussed.

Keywords: childhood maltreatment; emotional neglect; non-suicidal self-injury; physical/sexual abuse; suicidal behaviors.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study selection flowchart.

References

    1. Nock MK, Prinstein MJ. A functional approach to the assessment of self-mutilative behavior. J Consult Clin Psychol (2004) 72:885–90.10.1037/0022-006X.72.5.885
    1. Stewart JG, Esposito EC, Glenn CR, Gilman SE, Pridgen B, Gold J, et al. Adolescent self-injurers: comparing non-ideators, suicide ideators, and suicide attempters. J Psychiatr Res (2017) 84:105–12.10.1016/j.jpsychires.2016.09.031
    1. Grandclerc S, De Labrouhe D, Spodenkiewicz M, Lachal J, Moro MR. Relations between nonsuicidal self-injury and suicidal behavior in adolescence: a systematic review. PLoS One (2016) 11:e0153760.10.1371/journal.pone.0153760
    1. Martin J, Bureau JF, Cloutier P, Lafontaine MF. A comparison of invalidating family environment characteristics between university students engaging in self-injurious thoughts & actions and non-self-injuring university students. J Youth Adolesc (2011) 40:1477–88.10.1007/s10964-011-9643-9
    1. Johnstone JM, Carter JD, Luty SE, Mulder RT, Frampton CM, Joyce PR. Childhood predictors of lifetime suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury in depressed adults. Aust N Z J Psychiatry (2016) 50:135–44.10.1177/0004867415585581
    1. Garisch JA, Wilson MS. Prevalence, correlates, and prospective predictors of non-suicidal self-injury among New Zealand adolescents: cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health (2015) 9:28.10.1186/s13034-015-0055-6
    1. Brausch AM, Gutierrez PM. Differences in non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts in adolescents. J Youth Adolesc (2010) 39:233–42.10.1007/s10964-009-9482-0
    1. Nock MK, Joiner TE, Jr, Gordon KH, Lloyd-Richardson E, Prinstein MJ. Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: diagnostic correlates and relation to suicide attempts. Psychiatry Res (2006) 144:65–72.10.1016/j.psychres.2006.05.010
    1. Santa Mina EE, Gallop RM. Childhood sexual and physical abuse and adult self-harm and suicidal behaviour: a literature review. Can J Psychiatry (1998) 43:793–800.10.1177/070674379804300803
    1. Shonkoff JP, Garner AS, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care; Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics (2012) 129:e232–46.10.1542/peds.2011-2663
    1. Bernstein DP, Fink L, Handelsman L, Foote J, Lovejoy M, Wenzel K, et al. Initial reliability and validity of a new retrospective measure of child abuse and neglect. Am J Psychiatry (1994) 151:1132–6.10.1176/ajp.151.8.1132
    1. Glassman LH, Weierich MR, Hooley JM, Deliberto TL, Nock MK. Child maltreatment, non-suicidal self-injury, and the mediating role of self-criticism. Behav Res Ther (2007) 45:2483–90.10.1016/j.brat.2007.04.002
    1. Isohookana R, Riala K, Hakko H, Räsänen P. Adverse childhood experiences and suicidal behavior of adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (2013) 22:13–22.10.1007/s00787-012-0311-8
    1. Guvendeger Doksat N, Zahmacioglu O, Demirci AC, Kocaman GM, Erdogan A. Association of suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury behaviors with substance use and family characteristics among children and adolescents seeking treatment for substance use disorder. Subst Use Misuse (2017) 52:604–13.10.1080/10826084.2016.1245745
    1. Oldershaw A, Richards C, Simic M, Schmidt U. Parents’ perspectives on adolescent self-harm: qualitative study. Br J Psychiatry (2008) 193:140–4.10.1192/bjp.bp.107.045930
    1. Liberati A, Altman DG, Tetzlaff J, Mulrow C, Gøtzsche PC, Ioannidis JP, et al. The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. Ann Intern Med (2009) 151:W65–94.10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00136
    1. Paivio SC, McCulloch CR. Alexithymia as a mediator between childhood trauma and self-injurious behaviors. Child Abuse Negl (2004) 28:339–54.10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.11.018
    1. Kaess M, Parzer P, Mattern M, Plener PL, Bifulco A, Resch F, et al. Adverse childhood experiences and their impact on frequency, severity, and the individual function of nonsuicidal self-injury in youth. Psychiatry Res (2013) 206:265–72.10.1016/j.psychres.2012.10.012
    1. Martin J, Bureau JF, Yurkowski K, Fournier TR, Lafontaine MF, Cloutier P. Family-based risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury: considering influences of maltreatment, adverse family-life experiences, and parent-child relational risk. J Adolesc (2016) 49:170–80.10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.03.015
    1. Bernegger A, Kienesberger K, Carlberg L, Swoboda P, Ludwig B, Koller R, et al. Influence of sex on suicidal phenotypes in affective disorder patients with traumatic childhood experiences. PLoS One (2015) 10:e0137763.10.1371/journal.pone.0137763
    1. Swannell S, Martin G, Page A, Hasking P, Hazell P, Taylor A, et al. Child maltreatment, subsequent non-suicidal self-injury and the mediating roles of dissociation, alexithymia and self-blame. Child Abuse Negl (2012) 36:572–84.10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.05.005
    1. Weierich MR, Nock MK. Posttraumatic stress symptoms mediate the relation between childhood sexual abuse and nonsuicidal self-injury. J Consult Clin Psychol (2008) 76:39–44.10.1037/0022-006X.76.1.39
    1. Thomassin K, Shaffer A, Madden A, Londino DL. Specificity of childhood maltreatment and emotion deficit in nonsuicidal self-injury in an inpatient sample of youth. Psychiatry Res (2016) 244:103–8.10.1016/j.psychres.2016.07.050
    1. Kara K, Ozsoy S, Teke H, Congologlu MA, Turker T, Renklidag T, et al. Non-suicidal self-injurious behavior in forensic child and adolescent populations. Clinical features and relationship with depression. Neurosciences (Riyadh) (2015) 20:31–6.
    1. Christoffersen MN, Møhl B, DePanfilis D, Vammen KS. Non-suicidal self-injury – does social support make a difference? An epidemiological investigation of a Danish national sample. Child Abuse Negl (2015) 44:106–16.10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.10.023
    1. Stewart SL, Baiden P, Theall-Honey L. Examining non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents with mental health needs, in Ontario, Canada. Arch Suicide Res (2014) 18:392–409.10.1080/13811118.2013.824838
    1. Stinson JD, Quinn MA, Levenson JS. The impact of trauma on the onset of mental health symptoms, aggression, and criminal behavior in an inpatient psychiatric sample. Child Abuse Negl (2016) 61:13–22.10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.09.005
    1. Weismoore JT, Esposito-Smythers C. The role of cognitive distortion in the relationship between abuse, assault, and non-suicidal self-injury. J Youth Adolesc (2010) 39:281–90.10.1007/s10964-009-9452-6
    1. Zetterqvist M, Lundh LG, Svedin CG. A cross-sectional study of adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: support for a specific distress-function relationship. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health (2014) 8:23.10.1186/1753-2000-8-23
    1. Reichl C, Heyer A, Brunner R, Parzer P, Völker JM, Resch F, et al. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, childhood adversity and adolescent nonsuicidal self-injury. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2016) 74:203–11.10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.09.011
    1. Muehlenkamp JJ, Claes L, Smits D, Peat CM, Vandereycken W. Non-suicidal self-injury in eating disordered patients: a test of a conceptual model. Psychiatry Res (2011) 188:102–8.10.1016/j.psychres.2010.12.023
    1. Shenk CE, Noll JG, Cassarly JA. A multiple mediational test of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and non-suicidal self-injury. J Youth Adolesc (2010) 39:335–42.10.1007/s10964-009-9456-2
    1. Kaplan C, Tarlow N, Stewart JG, Aguirre B, Galen G, Auerbach RP. Borderline personality disorder in youth: The prospective impact of child abuse on non-suicidal self-injury and suicidality. Compr Psychiatry (2016) 71:86–94.10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.08.016
    1. Wan Y, Chen J, Sun Y, Tao F. Impact of childhood abuse on the risk of non-suicidal self-injury in mainland chinese adolescents. PLoS One (2015) 10(6):e0131239.10.1371/journal.pone.0131239
    1. Vaughn MG, Salas-Wright CP, Underwood S, Gochez-Kerr T. Subtypes of non-suicidal self-injury based on childhood adversity. Psychiatr Q (2015) 86:137–51.10.1007/s11126-014-9313-7
    1. Thabrew H, de Sylva S, Romans SE. Evaluating childhood adversity. Adv Psychosom Med (2012) 32:35–57.10.1159/000330002
    1. Gibb BE, Alloy LB. A prospective test of the hopelessness theory of depression in children. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol (2006) 35:264–74.10.1207/s15374424jccp3502_10
    1. Maniglio R. The role of child sexual abuse in the etiology of suicide and non-suicidal self-injury. Acta Psychiatr Scand (2011) 124:30–41.10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01612.x
    1. Romans SE, Martin JL, Anderson JC, Herbison GP, Mullen PE. Sexual abuse in childhood and deliberate self-harm. Am J Psychiatry (1995) 152(9):1336–42.10.1176/ajp.152.9.1336
    1. Ystgaard M, Hestetun I, Loeb M, Mehlum L. Is there a specific relationship between childhood sexual and physical abuse and repeated suicidal behavior? Child Abuse Negl (2004) 28:863–75.10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.01.009
    1. Plener PL, Schumacher TS, Munz LM, Groschwitz RC. The longitudinal course of non-suicidal self-injury and deliberate self-harm: a systematic review of the literature. Borderline Personal Disord Emot Dysregul (2015) 2:2.10.1186/s40479-014-0024-3
    1. Gratz KL, Conrad SD, Roemer L. Risk factors for deliberate self-harm among college students. Am J Orthopsychiatry (2002) 72:128–40.10.1037/0002-9432.72.1.128
    1. Kendall-Tackett KA, Williams LM, Finkelhor D. Impact of sexual abuse on children: a review and synthesis of recent empirical studies. Psychol Bull (1993) 113:164–80.10.1037/0033-2909.113.1.164
    1. Cicchetti D, Toth SL. Child maltreatment. Ann Rev Clin Psychol (2005) 1:409–38.10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144029
    1. Shipman K, Zeman J, Penza S, Champion K. Emotion management skills in sexually maltreated and nonmaltreated girls: a developmental psychopathology perspective. Dev Psychopathol (2000) 12:47–62.10.1017/S0954579400001036
    1. Braquehais MD, Oquendo MA, Baca-García E, Sher L. Is impulsivity a link between childhood abuse and suicide? Compr Psychiatry (2010) 51:121–9.10.1016/j.comppsych.2009.05.003
    1. O’Connor RC, Noyce R. Personality and cognitive processes: self-criticism and different types of rumination as predictors of suicidal ideation. Behav Res Ther (2008) 46:392–401.10.1016/j.brat.2008.01.007
    1. Connors R. Self-injury in trauma survivors: 1. Functions and meanings. Am J Orthopsychiatry (1996) 66:197–206.10.1037/h0080171
    1. Calati R, Bensassi I, Courtet P. The link between dissociation and both suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury: meta-analyses. Psychiatry Res (2017) 251:103–14.10.1016/j.psychres.2017.01.035
    1. Zanarini MC. Childhood experiences associated with the development of borderline personality disorder. Psychiatr Clin North Am (2000) 23:89–101.10.1016/S0193-953X(05)70145-3
    1. Klonsky ED, Moyer A. Childhood sexual abuse and non-suicidal self-injury: meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry (2008) 192:166–70.10.1192/bjp.bp.106.030650

Source: PubMed

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

3
Subscribe