Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Aug;49(4):274-281.
doi: 10.1037/pro0000200.

Parental Validation and Invalidation Predict Adolescent Self-Harm

Molly Adrian  1   2 , Michele S Berk  3 , Kathryn Korslund  4 , Kathryn Whitlock  2 , Elizabeth McCauley  1   2   4 , Marsha Linehan  4
Affiliations

Parental Validation and Invalidation Predict Adolescent Self-Harm

Molly Adrian et al. Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate family processes theoretically implicated in the onset and maintenance of adolescent self-harm. In the present study, we focus on understanding parental validation and invalidation in response to their adolescent in order to estimate the association between parental responses and self-harm in a high risk group of adolescents. We also sought to determine the influence of psychotherapy on parental validation and invalidation over time during participation in a randomized clinical trial of psychotherapy designed to reduce self-harm. Thirty-eight teens (M age= 14.85; 94.1% female, 55.3% Caucasian, and 17.5% Latino) and their parents participated in three assessments over a six month period corresponding to pretreatment, midtreatment and end of treatment in the trial. Results indicate a robust association between parental validation, invalidation and adolescent self-harm. There were no significant associations observed between parental validation, invalidation, and adolescent suicidal ideation. Observed levels of parental validation and invalidation were not changed during the six-month course of psychotherapy.

Keywords: Self-harm; adolescent psychotherapy; parent-child interactions; parental validation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The Interaction between Baseline Parental Validation and Invalidation and the Frequency of Self-Harm at 6-months
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adrian M, & Berk M (in press). Behavioral Assessment of Emotion Dysregulation In, Crowell S & Beauchaine T (Editors) Oxford Handbook of Emotion Dysregulation. Oxford University Press.
    1. Adrian M, Zeman J, Erdley C, Lisa L & Sim L (2011). Emotional dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties as predictors of nonsuicidal self-injury in adolescent girls. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 389–400. - PubMed
    1. Asarnow JR, Porta G, Spirito A, Emslie G, Clarke G, Wagner KD, … Brent DA (2011). Suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury in the treatment of resistant depression in adolescents: Findings from the TORDIA study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50(8), 772–781. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bates D, Maechler M, & Bolker B (2013). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. R package version 0.999999–0. 2012. URL: http://CRAN.R-Project.Org/package=lme4.
    1. Berk M, Adrian M, McCauley E, Asarnow J, Avina C, & Linehan M (2014). Conducting research on adolescent suicide attempters: Dilemmas and decisions. The Behavior Therapist / AABT, 37(3), 65–69. - PMC - PubMed