Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Young People with a History of Childhood Adversity: The Role of Friendship and Resilient Functioning

Around 70% of young people that engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) have attempted suicide at least once. NSSI has become one of the most concerning behaviors in young people, and having experienced childhood adversity increased the risk of NSSI. Therefore, it is important to find protective factors against NSSI in young people with a history of childhood adversity. This thesis looked into the interaction between resilient functioning, friendship quality, and NSSI, and investigated if resilient functioning and friendship quality could reduce NSSI in young people with a history of childhood adversity. 72 young people, aged 16-26 years, who were exposed to childhood adversity before the age of 16 years were included in the study. They were asked to fill out online assessments about psychosocial functioning, childhood adversity history, friendship quality, and NSSI. The results showed that higher resilient functioning was related with a greater tendency of NSSI, and higher...Show moreAround 70% of young people that engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) have attempted suicide at least once. NSSI has become one of the most concerning behaviors in young people, and having experienced childhood adversity increased the risk of NSSI. Therefore, it is important to find protective factors against NSSI in young people with a history of childhood adversity. This thesis looked into the interaction between resilient functioning, friendship quality, and NSSI, and investigated if resilient functioning and friendship quality could reduce NSSI in young people with a history of childhood adversity. 72 young people, aged 16-26 years, who were exposed to childhood adversity before the age of 16 years were included in the study. They were asked to fill out online assessments about psychosocial functioning, childhood adversity history, friendship quality, and NSSI. The results showed that higher resilient functioning was related with a greater tendency of NSSI, and higher friendship quality was associated with a lower tendency of NSSI in young people with a history of childhood adversity. The relationship between resilient functioning and NSSI was not moderated by the friendship quality. Friendship is an important factor to buffer the negative effect of childhood adversity and reduce NSSI in young people. It can be valuable to add friendship in the intervention related to NSSI in young people with a history of childhood adversity.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Young People with a History of Childhood Adversity: The Role of Friendship and Resilient Functioning