Peer-reviewed article
Harsh parenting and adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: A moderated mediation model of alienation and cognitive reappraisal
Honglei Gu, Yuyi Yao, Fang He, Yufang Cheng ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how harsh parenting leads to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in Chinese adolescents. The researchers found that feelings of alienation partially explain this link, but that adolescents with strong cognitive reappraisal skills—the ability to reframe stressful situations—experience less harm. The findings suggest that building emotion regulation abilities could help protect teenagers experiencing harsh parenting.
Key points
- Among 1,638 Chinese adolescents (ages 12-19), harsh parenting was positively associated with non-suicidal self-injury
- Feelings of alienation mediated the association between harsh parenting and NSSI
- Cognitive reappraisal weakened both the direct effect of harsh parenting on NSSI and the indirect effect through alienation
- The protective effect of cognitive reappraisal suggests emotion regulation is a modifiable factor
- Adolescents with higher cognitive reappraisal skills showed lower risk of NSSI despite harsh parenting
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study using self-report measures, so it cannot establish causation or rule out reverse causality. The findings are specific to Chinese adolescents and may not generalise to other cultural contexts.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Harsh parenting has been shown to be associated with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents. Based on the integrated theoretical model of the development of NSSI and the cognitive-emotional model of NSSI, we proposed a moderated mediation model to investigate "how" and "when" harsh parenting is associated with adolescent NSSI. Specifically, we tested whether feelings of alienation mediated the association between harsh parenting and NSSI, and whether this indirect effect was weakened by cognitive reappraisal as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy. METHODS: A total of 1638 Chinese adolescents (54.7 % girls; ages 12-19 years) completed self-report questionnaires in their classrooms. The questionnaires assessed harsh parenting, feelings of alienation, cognitive reappraisal skills, and incidents of NSSI. RESULTS: Path analyses showed that harsh parenting positively predicted NSSI, and alienation mediated this association. Both the direct effect of harsh parenting on NSSI and the indirect effect through alienation were moderated by cognitive reappraisal. Specifically, cognitive reappraisal skills weakened the direct and indirect associations between harsh parenting and NSSI. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents may benefit from interventions that decrease feelings of alienation and increase cognitive reappraisal strategies to reduce the risk of NSSI in the context of harsh parenting.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Interventions to decrease feelings of alienation and increase cognitive reappraisal strategies
- Population
- Chinese adolescents aged 12-19 years (1,638 participants, 54.7% girls)
Key finding
Harsh parenting positively predicted NSSI
Gu et al. · Child Abuse & Neglect · 2 May 2023