Self-harm and Aggression in Chinese Early Adolescents: Their Co-occurrence and the Role of Bullying Victimization

Self-harm and aggression increase markedly during early adolescence. However, few studies considered these harmful behaviors simultaneously. This study employed a person-centered approach to identify profiles of adolescents who differed in their patterns of self-harm, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression, examined the stability of these patterns, and explored the effect of bullying victimization on latent profile membership and transition. A total of 2463 early adolescents (48.8% girls, M-age = 13.93 +/- 0.59) participated in two waves of the study over six months. The results indicated that low symptoms profile (80.4%), moderate aggression profile (14.2%), high aggression profile (3.0%), and high self-harm profile (2.4%) were identified at time 1, and low symptoms profile (82.1%), dual-harm profile (7.6%), high aggression profile (7.7%), and high self-harm profile (2.6%) were identified at time 2. Adolescents assigned to at-risk profiles showed moderate to high transition, suggesting the developmental heterogeneity of self-harm and aggression. Moreover, adolescents high in bullying victimization were more likely to belong or transition to at-risk profiles. The findings revealed the co-occurring and transitional nature of self-harm and aggression and the transdiagnostic role of bullying victimization, which can be used to guide prevention and intervention strategies.

Automated summary

This study examined the patterns and stability of self-harm and aggression behaviors in adolescents, and found that there is heterogeneity in the development of these behaviors. Additionally, bullying victimization was found to increase the likelihood of being in a risky behavior pattern.