The Association of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury with Quality of Life and Mental Disorders in Clinical Adolescents—A Network Approach

Dora Gyori, Bernadett Frida Farkas, Lili Olga Horvath, Daniel Komaromy, Gergely Meszaros, Dora Szentivanyi and Judit Balazs
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Dora Gyori: Doctoral School of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary
Bernadett Frida Farkas: Mental Health Sciences Doctoral School, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
Lili Olga Horvath: Doctoral School of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary
Daniel Komaromy: Institute of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary
Gergely Meszaros: Mental Health Sciences Doctoral School, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
Dora Szentivanyi: Doctoral School of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary
Judit Balazs: Institute of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: Although earlier research has highlighted that psychiatric disorders significantly impair patients’ quality of life (QoL), few studies have examined the relationship between nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and QoL. Our aim was to investigate whether QoL mediates the mental disorder–NSSI relationship, and to study the QoL ratings agreement of self and parents in a clinical population of adolescents. We involved 202 adolescents from Vadaskert Child Psychiatric Hospital and Outpatient Clinic, Budapest, aged 13–18 years. All participants completed the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory, Inventar zur Erfassung der Lebensqualität bei Kindern und Jugendlichen, and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Kid. To map the interrelationship between the NSSI, mental disorders, and QoL dimensions, Mixed Graphical Models were estimated. Adolescents with a history of NSSI rated their QoL to be significantly lower than adolescents without NSSI. Self and parents’ QoL ratings are closer in the NSSI sample than in the no-NSSI sample. Among all QoL dimensions, only family problems had a direct significant association with NSSI engagement. Our results highlight that, contrary to our hypothesis, the presence of mental disorders mediates the relationship between most QoL dimensions and the occurrence of NSSI. Our results draw attention to the potential causal effect of environmental factors (e.g., peer problems) on mental disorders that, in turn, result in NSSI. The present paper highlights the importance of network modelling in clinical research.

Keywords: non-suicidal self-injury; quality of life; mental disorders; adolescents; self-report; parent-report; network approach (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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