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Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Adolescents Attachment with Peers and Mother: The Mediating Role of Identity Synthesis and Confusion

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Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is highly prevalent in adolescents. Secure attachment with family and peers can reduce vulnerability to NSSI and can optimize the outcomes of developmental challenges such as identity formation. Problems experienced in these developmental processes and contexts can increase vulnerability to NSSI. Hence, the present study examined associations between attachment with mother and peers, identity formation, and NSSI, using self-report questionnaires in 528 high school students (Mean age = 15.0 years, SD = 1.84, 11–19 years, 50.4 % females). The lifetime prevalence of NSSI was found to be 14.2 %. Mediation analyses indicated that peer trust had a significant negative indirect effect on NSSI via identity synthesis and confusion. The positive association between peer alienation and NSSI was partially mediated by a lack of identity synthesis. Further, the pathways from maternal trust and alienation to NSSI were fully mediated by both identity confusion and synthesis. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Tom F. Wilderjans is a post-doctoral fellow at the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO)-Flanders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Amarendra Gandhi, Laurence Claes, Imke Baetens & Koen Luyckx

  2. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Laurence Claes

  3. Parenting and Special Education Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Guy Bosmans

  4. Department of Clinical & Life Span Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Imke Baetens

  5. Methodology of Educational Sciences Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Tom F. Wilderjans

  6. Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Tom F. Wilderjans

  7. Center for Health and Mental Health, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

    Shubhada Maitra

  8. Research Group of Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Glenn Kiekens

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  1. Amarendra Gandhi
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Gandhi, A., Claes, L., Bosmans, G. et al. Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Adolescents Attachment with Peers and Mother: The Mediating Role of Identity Synthesis and Confusion. J Child Fam Stud 25, 1735–1745 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0350-0

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