Journal
DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Volume 33, Issue 4, Pages 1351-1367Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0954579420000553
Keywords
ADHD; development; risk factors; self-harm; women
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship [2013172086]
- National Institute of Mental Health [R01 MH45064, T32 MH073517]
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Most females with a history of self-harm engaged in such behaviors during adolescence but stopped by adulthood. Predictors of NSSI included early externalizing symptoms, overall executive functioning, and father's negative parenting; predictors of SI included adverse childhood experiences and low self-esteem; predictors of SA included early externalizing symptoms, adverse childhood experiences, and low self-esteem.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with self-harm during adolescence and young adulthood, especially among females. Yet little is known about the developmental trajectories or childhood predictors/moderators of self-harm in women with and without childhood histories of ADHD. We characterized lifetime risk for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidal ideation (SI), and suicide attempts (SA), comparing female participants with (n = 140) and without (n = 88) childhood ADHD. We examined theory-informed childhood predictors and moderators of lifetime risk via baseline measures from childhood. First, regarding developmental patterns, most females with positive histories of lifetime self-harm engaged in such behaviors in adolescence yet desisted by adulthood. Females with positive histories of self-harm by late adolescence emanated largely from the ADHD-C group. Second, we found that predictors of NSSI were early externalizing symptoms, overall executive functioning, and father's negative parenting; predictors of SI were adverse childhood experiences and low self-esteem; and predictors of SA were early externalizing symptoms, adverse childhood experiences, and low self-esteem. Third, receiver operating characteristics analyses helped to ascertain interactive sets of predictors. Findings indicate that pathways to self-harm are multifaceted for females with ADHD. Understanding early childhood predictors and moderators of self-harm can inform both risk assessment and intervention strategies.
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