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. 2025 May 30:16:1557400.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1557400. eCollection 2025.

School bullying and non-suicidal self-injury: the mediating role of depression and the moderating role of social support

Yongzhi Jiang  1   2   3 , Haifei Chai  1
Affiliations

School bullying and non-suicidal self-injury: the mediating role of depression and the moderating role of social support

Yongzhi Jiang et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Objective: To explore the relationship between school bullying and non-suicidal self-injury and the roles of depression and social support among high school students from single-parent families.

Methods: The School Bullying Questionnaire, the Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Behavior Rating Questionnaire, the Stream Call Depression Self-Rating Scale, and the Adolescent Social Support Scale were used to investigate 312 high school students from single-parent families.

Results: (1) School bullying positively predicted non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors among high school students from single-parent families; (2) depression mediated the relationship between school bullying and non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors among high school students from single-parent families; and (3) social support negatively moderated the second half of the pathway and the direct pathway of this mediation model.

Conclusion: There is a moderated mediating effect between school bullying and non-suicidal self-injury among high school students from single-parent families, depression is a mediating variable in the relationship, and social support mitigates the effects of school bullying and depression on non-suicidal self-injurious behavior.

Keywords: depression; non-suicidal self-injury; school bullying; single-parent families; social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The hypothetical model underlying the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Moderating effect of social support between school bullying and non-suicidal self-injury.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Moderating effects of social support between depression and non-suicidal self-injury.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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