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. 2023 Feb;56(2):439-445.
doi: 10.1002/eat.23826. Epub 2022 Dec 16.

Co-occurrence of nonsuicidal self-injury and eating disorder pathology in adolescents

Deborah Lynn Reas  1 , Line Wisting  1 , Camilla Lindvall Dahlgren  1   2
Affiliations

Co-occurrence of nonsuicidal self-injury and eating disorder pathology in adolescents

Deborah Lynn Reas et al. Int J Eat Disord. 2023 Feb.

Erratum in

Abstract

Objective: Little is known about the co-occurrence of nonsuicidal self-injurious (NSSI) behaviors and eating disorder (ED) pathology in community samples of adolescents.

Methods: A total of 1558 Norwegian upper secondary school students (Grades 11, 12, and 13) completed the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory and a measure of ED pathology.

Results: Adolescents (53.1% F, 46.9% M) were a mean age of 17.1 years. A higher level of ED pathology was reported (12.1 vs. 5.3, p < .001) among adolescents who had a history of NSSI. Significantly higher levels of ED pathology were found among females who reported hitting themselves until bruised, head banging, severe scratching, and burning with a lighter, but not cutting, or the other forms of self-injury. Of adolescents with a history of NSSI, 60% of females and 15% of males scored above a cutoff for ED pathology. Of adolescents scoring above a cutoff for ED pathology, 42.5% of females and 37.1% of males had engaged in lifetime NSSI.

Discussion: Adolescents-in particular, females- with a history of NSSI reported significantly greater ED pathology. Notably, a higher proportion of males with ED pathology reported lifetime self-injury than vice versa, underscoring the importance of carefully screening for the presence of self-harm among males with ED pathology.

Public significance statement: Over 1500 upper secondary school students with an average age of 17 years completed an online survey assessing current ED pathology and lifetime NSSI. Adolescents, particularly females, with a history of self-harm reported significantly more ED pathology. Findings also indicated the need to carefully screen for self-harm among males with ED pathology. Parents, schools, and health professionals should be aware that self-harm and ED pathology commonly co-occur and warrant assessment.

Keywords: adolescents; deliberate self-harm; eating disorders; mental health; school; self-injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.

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