Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Essay

This article notes that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), which is a worldwide public health concern, as a nonfatal outcome that an individual inflicts upon oneself either through ingestion of toxic substance or injurious behavior. It is believed that NSSI is prevalent in adolescents who have experienced childhood abuse. Therefore, this article investigates the relationship between childhood abuse and risk of NSSI. The study involved 14,211 Grades 7 – 12 students from China. A self-reported questionnaire was used to gather information about the adolescents’ physical and psychological health. This questionnaire included questions that was used to screen for NSSI within the adolescent. A modified version of the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Short ACE Tool was used to measure the abusive childhood experiences. There were about 12 to 15 physical abuse questions, emotional abuse questions, and sexual abuse questions. The participants who had reported exposure to childhood abuse were grouped into the three categories according to the timing of exposure to childhood abuse. The demographics of the adolescent was …show more content…
The prevalence of NSSI behaviors between boys and girls were different. Boys often reported higher NSSI behaviors of bumping heads and overdosing themselves while girls reported higher NSSI behaviors of pinching, biting, and cutting. It was also noted that only child often experience more overall childhood abuse. The results supports the hypothesis that childhood abuse, whether it was physical abuse, sexual abuse, or emotional abuse, had a significantly higher rate of risk of NSSI. Children, who were exposed to any type of abuse within their first 16 years of life, had significant associations with