ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Neuroimaging
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1596035
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Adolescent Mental Health: Neuroimaging Strategies against Suicidal BehaviorsView all articles
Electrophysiological characteristics in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury: An event-related potential study and source analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Psychiatry, Wonkwang University Hospital, Iksan-si, Republic of Korea
- 2Department of Psychiatry, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious concern in adolescents and is associated with impairments in impulsivity and social functioning. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to examine inhibitory control and its association with depressive symptoms and interpersonal distress in adolescents with NSSI using eventrelated potentials (ERPs) and source-level analysis.Methods: A total of 51 adolescents with NSSI and 50 HC were recruited. Psychological characteristics were assessed using standardized scales including the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) and Short UPPS-P Impulsivity Scale (SUPPS-P). EEG were recorded during a go/no-go task to measure P3 amplitudes. Source analysis was performed to localize the neural activity. Group differences were analyzed using RMANOVA, followed by Pearson correlation and mediation analyses to evaluate the relationships among the variables.Results: The NSSI group showed significantly lower accuracy than HCs. The interaction between group and electrode site was significant (p = .032, ηp² = .010), indicating spatially specific reductions in no-go P3 amplitude in the NSSI group. No-go P3 at Fz was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms and interpersonal distress. Source-level analysis revealed marginally reduced activation in the right superior frontal gyrus in the NSSI group but diminished after adjusting for depressive symptoms. Mediation analysis indicated that depressive symptoms significantly mediated the relationship between both neural indices and interpersonal distress.Conclusions: Adolescents with NSSI exhibit impaired inhibitory control that is associated with depressive symptoms and social distress. These findings highlight the role of affective dysregulation in linking cognitive control deficits to interpersonal functioning in NSSI.
Keywords: Interpersonal Relations1, non-suicidal self-injury2, Event related potnetials3, electroencephalography4, Depression5
Received: 19 Mar 2025; Accepted: 16 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yoon, Kim, Lee, Lee and Shim. 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: Se-Hoon Shim, Department of Psychiatry, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.