A retrospective research on non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors among young patients diagnosed with mood disorders

Yage Zheng; Ling Xiao; Huiling Wang; Zhenhua Chen; Gaohua Wang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.895892

A retrospective research on non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors among young patients diagnosed with mood disorders

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 22:13:895892. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.895892. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yage Zheng^{1

2}, Ling Xiao^{1

2}, Huiling Wang^{1

2}, Zhenhua Chen^{1

2}, Gaohua Wang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Mental health Center, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
² Judicial Appraisal Institute, Renmin Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is an emerging public concern in both clinical and non-clinical settings, especially in the background of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Nevertheless, knowledge of NSSI on a certain disease entity in the later stage of the pandemic was scarce.

Objective: This study was conducted for the purpose of exploring the current occurrence and characteristics of NSSI in patients diagnosed with mood disorders (MDs) as well as its correlated factors in the later stage of the pandemic.

Methods: Three hundred and forty-nine eligible subjects (M ± SD, 21.54 ± 7.62) admitted to a mental health center in Wuhan from 11 November 2021 to 31 January 2022 were included in our study. An umbrella questionnaire comprised of demographics, COVID-19-related factors, Yale-Brown Obsessive and Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index-Revised (PSQI-R), Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), and Ottawa Self-injury Inventory (OSI) was extended to each subject via shared QR code.

Results: Of 349 patients with MDs included, 151 (43.27%) reported NSSI in the recent 1 month, among whom hand, lower arm/wrist, and scalp were the most hurt body parts, and cutting, hitting, and headbanging were the most adopted methods. "Own idea" was the most common origin of NSSI. In the logistic regression model, age bracket, family monthly income, occupation, level of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, sleep duration, withdrawal reaction to the mobile phone, and habits of using a mobile phone were independently associated with NSSI.

Conclusion: It was revealed by our study that NSSI was quite prevalent among patients with MDs, especially among those students, adolescents, comorbid with OCD symptoms, inadequate sleeping hours, and suffering from withdrawal reaction to mobile phones. Further research on NSSI in various psychiatric disorders and even in non-clinical settings such as the community population was in urgent need since NSSI in China was not rare.

Keywords: characteristics; correlation factors; detective rate; non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI); retrospective research.