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
. 2024 Jul 3;24(1):1775.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19309-9.

The mediating effect of bullying on parental-peer support matching and NSSI behaviour among adolescents

Huaqiang Liu  1 , Zhensong Lan  2 , Xuefang Huang  3 , Qing Wang  4 , Fafang Deng  5 , Juchao Li  6
Affiliations

The mediating effect of bullying on parental-peer support matching and NSSI behaviour among adolescents

Huaqiang Liu et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Being subjected to bullying is a significant risk factor for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents. Parental support, peer support, and social connectedness play protective roles in mitigating NSSI in this population. However, the precise impact of the combined effects of parental and peer support on bullying and NSSI requires further investigation.

Methods: This study employed the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale, Delaware Bullying Victimisation Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, and the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory to survey 1277 Chinese adolescents. Polynomial regression analysis and response surface analysis were applied to examine the mediating role of bullying and social connectedness in the relationship between parental and peer support matching and NSSI.

Results: The results indicate that parental support (r = 0.287, P < 0.001), peer support (r = 0.288, P < 0.001), and social connectedness (r = 0.401, P < 0.001) were protective factors against NSSI in adolescents. Conversely, bullying (r = 0.425, P < 0.001) acts as a risk factor for NSSI in this population. Adolescents with low parental and peer support experienced more bullying than those with high parental and peer support, while those with low parental but high peer support experienced less bullying than those with high parental but low peer support (R^2 = 0.1371, P < 0.001). Social connectedness moderated the effect between bullying and NSSI in this model (β = 0.006, P < 0.001).

Limitations: Due to the under-representation of participants and lack of longitudinal data support, the explanatory power of causality between variables was limited. Future studies should include national samples and incorporate longitudinal studies to enhance the generalisability and robustness of the findings.

Conclusion: This study reveals the influence mechanism of parental and peer support matching experienced by adolescents on bullying and NSSI and the moderating role of social connectedness. These findings enrich the developmental theory of adolescent NSSI and provide reference for the prevention and intervention of adolescent NSSI behaviour.

Keywords: Adolescents; Bullying; NSSI; Parental support; Peer support matching; Social connectedness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hypothesized theoretical model
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Response surface analysis of parent support (PaS)–peer support (PeS) matching with bullying (B) and NSSI
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
A simple slope graph of the moderating effect of social connectedness (SC) on the effect of bullying (B) on adolescent NSSI
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. White HV, Silamongkol T, Wiglesworth A, Labella MH, Goetz ER, Cullen KR, et al. Maternal emotion socialization of adolescent girls engaging in non-suicidal self-injury. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2021;49:683–95. doi: 10.1007/s10802-020-00758-w. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Muehlenkamp JJ. Self-injurious behavior as a separate clinical syndrome. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2005;75:324–33. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.75.2.324. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hawton K, Saunders KEA, O’Connor RC. Self-harm and suicide in adolescents. Lancet. 2012;379:2373–82. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60322-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tanner AK, Hasking P, Martin G. Suicidality among adolescents engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and firesetting: the role of psychosocial characteristics and reasons for living. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2015;9:33. doi: 10.1186/s13034-015-0068-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xu HQ, Wan YH, Xu SJ. Research progress on the theoretical model of association between non-suicidal self-injury behavior and suicidal behavior in adolescents. Chin Sch Health. 2019;02:314–7.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources