Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescent Girls: Clinical, Social, and Psychological Correlates

Background: non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescent girls remains a pressing mental health concern due to its high prevalence (10–30%) and increased risk of suicide attempts. The associations between NSSI and socio-psychological characteristics as well as clinical-psychological profiles remain insufficiently explored.

The Aim of study was to describe the frequency and motives of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescent girls and to examine its associations with clinical and socio-demographic characteristics, anxiety, depression, social adaptation, and perceived social support.

Patients and Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 186 adolescent girls aged 12–17 years who were hospitalized in a neuropsychiatric hospital (Krasnodar region) in 2022–2024. The assessment tools included the Self-Harming Behavior Reasons Scale (developed by N.A. Polskaya, 2014), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) by M. Kovacs, the Multidimensional Assessment of Child Anxiety (MACA), and the Social Psychological Adaptation Questionnaire by C. Rogers and R. Diamond. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism and Python.

Results: significant differences in the frequency and motives of self-harming behavior were found between diagnostic subgroups. According to the Self-Harming Behavior Reasons Scale (Part 1), significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in cutting, hair-pulling, lip-biting, and cheek-biting—most pronounced in patients with affective disorders (F30–F39). Part 2 of the scale revealed intergroup differences in motives such as “to calm down,” “to feel relief,” “to avoid emotional pain,” and “feeling completely destroyed” (p < 0.01). Correlations with anxiety, depression, suicide risk, and social adaptation were statistically significant but generally weak (r = 0.14–0.32).

Conclusions: the results emphasize the need for personalized prevention programs focusing on emotional regulation and social support, particularly for girls with affective and anxiety disorders.

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