NCJ Number
229973
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2010 Pages: 281-290
Date Published
March 2010
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study explored the relationship between different types of interpersonal traumas, such as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), cognitive distortion, and childhood abuse and assault, in a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood abuse, assault, cognitive distortion, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a clinical adolescent sample. The sample included 185 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and their parents. Adolescent participants were predominantly female (71.4 percent), Caucasian (84 percent), and of non-Hispanic ethnicity (9.2 percent). Participants completed a diagnostic interview and self-report measures to assess youth history of abuse and assault, cognitive errors, negative self-views, and recent NSSI. No relationship was found between childhood abuse and NSSI. However, a history of assault was associated with NSSI among youth who reported higher cognitive errors and more negative self-views, even after controlling for gender and internalizing disorders. These results suggest that existing affect regulation models of NSSI may be enhanced by incorporating the role of cognitive distortion. Clinically, results also suggest that assessing adolescent victims of assault for cognitive errors and negative self-views, and helping them restructure these cognitive distortions when present, may reduce the likelihood of NSSI. Tables, figures, and references (Published Abstract)