Safety first: The role of trust and school safety in non-suicidal self-injury

Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has become very prominent among adolescents in middle and high school settings. However, little research has evaluated the role of the school environment in the behaviour. This study examined whether indices of school trust and perceived safety were predictive of NSSI behaviour. Results indicate that these variables allow us to more accurately identify participants who engage in NSSI. Students who report being bullied and threatened, and who have less trust in specific members of school staff are more likely to engage in NSSI.L’automutilation non-suicidaire (AMNS) est devenue un comportement très important parmi les adolescents en milieu scolaire. Cependant, peu de recherches ont évalué le rôle de l’environnement scolaire dans le comportement. Cette étude examine si les indices de confiance et de la perception de sécurité à l’école sont des facteurs prédictifs de l’AMNS. Les résultats indiquent que ces variables nous permettent d’identifier plus précisément les participants qui endossent l’AMNS. Les étudiants qui déclarent être victimes d’intimidation et de menace, et qui ont moins confiance en certains membres du personnel scolaire sont plus susceptibles de dire qu’ils s’engagent dans l’AMNS

The Association between Deliberate Self-Harm and School Bullying Victimization and the Mediating Effect of Depressive Symptoms and Self-Stigma: A Systematic Review

“…All cross-sectional studies supported a positive association between school bullying victimization and NSSI [ 67 , 69 ], even after controlling for sociodemographic covariates (i.e., gender, age, ethnicity, and parental education) [ 70 , 74 , 75 ]. The effect size [OR (95%CI)] of this association ranged between 1.33 (0.67-2.64) and 4.75 (2.36-9.54) for occasional school bullying victimization, while the effect size was even stronger for repetitive school bullying victimization [11.75 (5.54-24.94)], demonstrating that even occasional school bullying victimization was associated with increased risk for NSSI [ 71 , 74 , 75 , 77 ].…”

“…All the aforementioned values of deliberate self-harming incidents were reported in the previous year [ 81 ]. Similarly, lifetime prevalence values of deliberate self-harm ranged between 1.33 (1.18-1.50) and 2.83 (1.50-5.36) [ 43 , 67 ]. These values were reported by the school bullying victims themselves.…”

Bullying and Victimization, Depressive Mood, and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Parental Support

“…We added to the existing literature by showing that the association between bullying and NSSI was also partially mediated by depressive mood. Both groups (victims as well as bullies) seem to be helped by developing more adequate emotion regulation skills to deal with their emotions (see also Noble et al 2011).…”

“…Second, it also seems necessary to teach both victims and bullies how to adequately deal with depressive mood, which seems related with these adverse circumstances. They have to learn adequate emotion-regulation skills to cope with depressive feelings to prevent them from acting-out by means of NSSI (see e.g., Noble et al 2011). Finally, it is may also be helpful to include family processes (i.e., family communication and involvement) as a possible intervention target in future bullying prevention efforts (e.g., Spriggs et al 2007); as these factors seem to protect both victims and bullies from engaging in NSSI to regulate their emotions.…”

“…Only a few studies have investigated the association between being a victim of bullying and NSSI (Noble et al 2011). Being a victim of bullying-also called bullying victimization-refers to being a victim of ''aggressive behavior or intentional harm-doing, which is performed repeatedly over time, and which involves an imbalance in power'' (Luukkonen et al 2009, p. 131).…”