High-risk group and functional subtypes of non-suicidal self-injury in young adults with mental disorders

Huiru Yan; Yuyanan Zhang; Zhe Lu; Mingzhu Li; Yuqi Ge; Dongli Mei; Zhewei Kang; Yaoyao Sun; Qianqian Li; Hao Yan; Lei Yang; Peihua Song; Chuan Shi; Shaomei Shang; Weihua Yue

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1098178

High-risk group and functional subtypes of non-suicidal self-injury in young adults with mental disorders

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Feb 23:14:1098178. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1098178. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Huiru Yan^{1

2

3}, Yuyanan Zhang^{2

3}, Zhe Lu^{2

3}, Mingzhu Li^{2

3}, Yuqi Ge^{2

3}, Dongli Mei^{1

2

3}, Zhewei Kang^{2

3}, Yaoyao Sun^{2

3}, Qianqian Li^{2

3}, Hao Yan^{2

3}, Lei Yang^{2

3}, Peihua Song^{2

3}, Chuan Shi^{2

3}, Shaomei Shang¹, Weihua Yue^{2

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing & Sixth Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
² Research Unit of Diagnosis and Treatment of Mood Cognitive Disorder (2018RU006), Peking University Sixth Hospital, Institute of Mental Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, China.
⁴ PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Background: Identifying high-risk groups of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) with multiple risk factors and different functional subtypes contribute to implementing person-centered interventions.

Methods: We investigated NSSI profiles among a sample of 258 psychiatric inpatients aged 18-25 years. All participants completed well-validated measures of internal personal and external environmental characteristics. One-hundred and ninety patients reported a lifetime history of NSSI and completed an additional NSSI assessment. A k-means cluster analysis was conducted to extract characteristics of risk factors and functional subtypes. Independent sample t-test, analysis of variance and χ ² test were used to test the difference of demographic statistical factors, risk factors and functional scores among groups with different frequency of NSSI.

Results: The clustering of risk factors analyses supported 4-clusters. The proportion of repeat NSSI patients was the highest (67.1%) in the group with unfavorable personal and unfavorable environmental characteristics. Functional subtype clustering analyses supported 5-clusters. Among patients with repeated NSSI, those with depression were mainly accompanied by the "Sensation Seeking" subtype (39.7%), bipolar disorder mainly supported the "Anti-suicide" subtype (37.9%), and eating disorders were mostly "Social Influence" subtype (33.3%). There was an interaction between functional subtypes and mental disorders.

Limitations: All participants were in treatment in a psychiatric service and the results may not be generalizable to a community sample. The data included retrospective self-report which may be inaccurate due to recall bias.

Conclusion: It is necessary to identify high-risk groups of NSSI who with unfavorable personal and environmental characteristics and clinical interventions need to consider the heterogeneity of patients' functional subtypes of NSSI.

Keywords: cluster analysis; mental disorder; non-suicidal self-injury; risk factor; young adult.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81825009), the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFF1201103), the Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit (2019-I2M-5-006), the Chinese Institute for Brain Research at Beijing (2020-NKX-XM-12), PKUHSC-KCL Joint Medical Research (BMU2020KCL001), and the Major Science and Technology Projects of Henan Province (201300310200).