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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1303033
This article is part of the Research Topic

Developmental Trajectories of Early Life Trauma

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Childhood maltreatment and NSSI in prisoners: Mediation through self-identity and moderation by sensation-seeking

Juan Li1 Honglei Gu1* Tiansheng Xia2
  • 1Hunan Normal University, China
  • 2Guangdong University of Technology, China

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The prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among prisoners is widely recognized. However, most research conducted in prisons setting has focused on lifetime engagement in NSSI, with limited knowledge about its correlates and risk factors during imprisonment. Drawing on the integrated theoretical model of NSSI, this study aimed to examine the combined effects of childhood maltreatment (an environmental factor) and two intrapersonal factors, namely self-identity and sensation-seeking, on NSSI. 1042 Chinese male offenders participated in the current study, and regression analyses is used to examine the relationship among variables. The results revealed that self-identity mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and prisoners’ NSSI. Sensation-seeking moderated the relationship between self-identity and NSSI, and this connection was only significant for offenders with high sensation-seeking. We discuss the results of the current research and possible practical implications.

Keywords: Non-suicidal self-injury, childhood maltreatment, Sensation-seeking, self-identity, moderated mediation model

Received: 27 Sep 2023; Accepted: 10 Jan 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Li, Gu and Xia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mx. Honglei Gu, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, Hunan Province, China