Nonsuicidal self-injury (nssi) in italian adolescents: exploring the role of personality, sleep disturbance and dysfunctional tecnology use as a risk factors

Introduction: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a major public health problem among adolescents and a risk factor for suicide. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between NSSI, personality functioning, sleep disturbance and problematic technology use in 136 Italian adolescents (36.8% males) aged from 14 to 17 years (mean age = 14.78 ± 0.86). Methods: Participants completed the following questionnaires: the Deliberate Self Harm Inventory (DSHI), the Personality Inventory for DMS-5 Brief Form (PID-5BF), the PROMIS Sleep Disturbance Short Form (SD), the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Mobile Phone Dependence Brief Form (TMD brief) and the Videogame Dependency Scale (CSAS). Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to identify which variables predict NSSI. The independent variable was personality functioning at Step1, while sleep disturbance was added in Step 2. Finally, problematic technology was included in Step 3. Results: Overall, 38.2% of participants (n=52) have engaged in at least one episode of NSSI in the last year, without gender and age differences. The 22.8% (n=31) injured themselves with only one method while, the other 15.4% (n=21) used two or more methods. 5.8% (n=8) of adolescents reported a problematic internet use and 0.7% (n=1) problematic vedeogame use. The hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that maladaptive personality functioning and problematic internet use were significantly related to an increased risk of NSSI (odds ratio= 5.43; 95% confidence interval: 1.54-19.18; odds ratio= 1.05; 95% confidence interval: 1.00-1.11, respectively). Conclusions: Problematic internet use is associated with NSSI after taking into account the role of maladaptive personality functioning and sleep disturbance in adolescents. However, data of present study should be considered with caution and further studies are needed to confirm these findings.