Anxiety symptoms mediates the influence of cybervictimization on adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: The moderating effect of self-control

Abstract

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has received increased attention as a major public health problem among adolescents. However, there is a lack of evidence testing the longitudinal association between cybervictimization and NSSI as well as its underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms. The current study investigated the potential mediator (i.e., anxiety symptoms) and moderator (i.e., self-control) of the relation between cybervictimization and NSSI over a 12-month period.

Methods: Three waves of data (called T1, T2 and T3) were collected 6 months apart, between November 2018 and 2019. 1987 Chinese adolescents completed self-report measures in their classrooms. SEM was used to test a moderated mediation model, with gender, age and childhood trauma and baseline measures as covariates.

Results: The results found a longitudinal association between cybervictimization and NSSI as well as the mediating role of anxiety symptoms in explaining this association. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that greater cybervictimization contributed to anxiety symptoms, which in turn predicted increased levels of NSSI only among adolescents with lower self-control.

Limitations: Measures of study variables were self-reported, and generalizability may be limited by a sample of adolescents from school in China.

Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that the indirect effect of anxiety symptoms in the association between cybervictimization and NSSI was conditioned by self-control. These results have implications for preventative interventions aimed toward reducing NSSI for at-risk adolescents.

Keywords: Anxiety symptoms; Cybervictimization; Moderated mediation effect; Non-suicidal self-injury; Self-control.