The Pattern of Non-Suicidal Behaviour and Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Adolescents

Nonsuicidal self-injurious behaviour (NSSI) is a concern for adolescents’ mental health issues and acts as a gateway for future suicide attempts or other mental health issues later. The study explored the occurrence and characteristics of Non-Suicidal Self Injurious Behaviour in adolescents and the role of emotion regulation strategies. A total of 702 Adolescents from higher secondary schools in different districts of Kerala were selected as participants by stratified random sampling and completed the Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation (FASM) and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). 9.8% of the participants reported NSSIB with a mean age of 15.6 years. The most common method is banging the head on the wall (23.1%) and the most commonly endorsed reason for NSSI was to get attention from someone (53.6%). All strategies of Non-adaptive emotion regulation dimensions such as Rumination, Catastrophization, Self-Blame & Other Blame and Adaptive coping strategies as Cognitive Reappraisal and Self-Acceptance shows statistically significantly difference in two groups. The study implicates the need for awareness of the increasing rate of NSSIBs and to plan targeted intervention based on adaptive and Non-Adaptive Emotion Regulation Strategies in adolescents.