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Associations between stressful life events, non‐suicidal self‐injury, and depressive symptoms among Chinese rural‐to‐urban children: A three‐wave longitudinal study
Author(s) -
Gao Yemiao,
Wang Hui,
Liu Xia,
Xiong Yuke,
Wei Ming
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
stress and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1532-2998
pISSN - 1532-3005
DOI - 10.1002/smi.2954
Subject(s) - longitudinal study , depressive symptoms , psychology , injury prevention , suicide prevention , poison control , clinical psychology , human factors and ergonomics , occupational safety and health , developmental psychology , medicine , demography , psychiatry , anxiety , medical emergency , pathology , sociology
Migrant children experience more stressful life events than their urban counterparts. Despite the growing evidence that stressful life events are associated with non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI), few studies have investigated this relationship using longitudinal designs. Besides, potential mediating factors have been rarely examined. This study tested the temporal relationship between stressful life events and NSSI among Chinese rural‐to‐urban migrant children, with depressive symptoms as the potential mediator, as well as the potential sex differences in these associations. In the present study, 279 Chinese rural‐to‐urban migrant children (57.3% females; M age = 11.95, SD = 1.22) reported their stressful life events, depressive symptoms and NSSI a total of three times at 6‐month intervals. Depressive symptoms only longitudinally mediated the relationship between stressful life events and NSSI among females. These findings provide evidence that supports the longitudinal effect of stressful life events on NSSI and the mediating role of depressive symptoms among migrant children. Moreover, there are sex differences in these longitudinal relationships.