The associations of social health, self-injurious thoughts and behaviors with or without childhood trauma: A UK biobank study

Xuting Li; Yusheng Tian; Hui Chen; Xiaoping Wang; Yamin Li; Jiansong Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.077

The associations of social health, self-injurious thoughts and behaviors with or without childhood trauma: A UK biobank study

J Affect Disord. 2024 May 19:359:145-157. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.077. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xuting Li¹, Yusheng Tian², Hui Chen³, Xiaoping Wang³, Yamin Li⁴, Jiansong Zhou⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China; Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China; Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
² Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China; Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
³ Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁴ Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China. Electronic address: aminny@csu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China. Electronic address: zhoujs2003@csu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38772505
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.077

Abstract

Background: Childhood trauma was known to increase risks of social isolation, loneliness and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine the protect and risk factors of social health, self-injurious thoughts and behaviors between adults with or without childhood trauma.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study comprising of 145,043 participants enrolled in the UK Biobank. Childhood trauma was determined by the Childhood Trauma Screener. Social health included social isolation, loneliness and emotional support. Outcomes of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors included suicide ideation, suicide attempt and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Demographic data, self-reported morbidities and other confounding variables were covariates. Stata 17.0 and SPSS 27.0 was used to analysis data.

Results: Compared with participants without childhood trauma, there was no protective effect of emotional support for NSSI in participants with childhood trauma (β-value difference = 0.334, p = 0.008). The risk effect of loneliness for suicide ideation, suicide attempt and NSSI were also weaker in participants experiencing childhood trauma (p<0.05). Social isolation was no longer a risk factor for NSSI in all participants, while loneliness remained as a threat (p < 0.05).

Limitations: Many variables were measured using core items of the scale in UK Biobank, meanwhile, the childhood trauma data collected in adulthood may have recall bias.

Conclusions: Adults reported childhood trauma were less vulnerable to self-injurious thoughts and behaviors when experiencing loneliness, but they could also not be protected from NSSI through emotional support. Emotional dysregulation caused by childhood trauma may contribute to this.

Keywords: Childhood trauma; Emotional support; Loneliness; Non-suicidal self-injury; Social isolation; Suicide.