AUTHOR=He Jing-Lan , Xu Xiao-Ming , Wang Wo , Chen Jian-Mei , Zhang Qi , Gan Yao , Cao Jun , Ding Da-Qin , Hu Jin-Hui , Chen Xiaorong , Kuang Li 

TITLE=Study pressure and self harm in Chinese primary school students: the effect of depression and parent-child relationships

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1580527

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1580527

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=BackgroundSelf-harm has become a significant and increasing global problem in children and adolescents. In this study, we tested a moderated mediation model to examine the impact of study pressure and depression, and one protective factor, good parent-child relationship, on self harm.MethodsA self-report Questionnaire survey was conducted among 33,285 primary school students from 3rd-6th grade (mean age = 10.36 years, SD = 1.24, 51.7% girls) in Shapingba District Chongqing, China. The survey assessed study pressure, depression, parent-child relationship, and self harm behaviors.ResultsThe reporting rates of self-harm and depression in grades 3-6 of primary school were 12.7% and 16.3%, respectively. Both moderate and high study pressure were significantly associated with an increased risk of self-harm, with depression acting as a mediator (indirect effects: moderate study pressure = 0.045, high study pressure = 0.125, p < 0.001). Furthermore, a good parent-child relationship weakened the association between study pressure and self-harm, thus self harm on moderate study pressure (β=-0.057) and on high study pressure (β=-0.032) are lower than those without the moderator of a good parent-child relationship(β=0.116; β=0.168), as well as between study pressure and depression.ConclusionsThis study is the first to conduct a self-harm survey in the largest population-based sample of Chinese primary school students. The results highlight the importance of monitoring study pressure, fostering a positive parent-child relationship, and managing depressive symptoms to support students’ mental health. These findings enhance our understanding of the development of self-harm behaviors and can inform the design of targeted intervention programs aimed at reducing self-harm among primary school students.