Psychotherapeutic interventions specifically developed for NSSI in adolescence: A systematic review

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a clinically significant behavior with high relevance and prevalence, especially affecting approximately 17-18% of the adolescent population worldwide. The aim of this study is to perform a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of the available Specific Psychotherapeutic Interventions (SPI) focused on the reduction of NSSI behaviors. A systematic review was performed analyzing PsychINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science, PubMed and Cochrane CentralRegister of Controlled Trials to identify studies of interest from January 2010 to December 2020. According to PRISMA guidelines, only 13 studies were included in the review. Six SPI were found to specifically and significantly reduce NSSI in adolescents: Developmental Group Psychotherapy (DGP), Therapeutic Assessment (TA), Cutting Down Program (CDP), Emotional Regulation Individual Therapy for Adolescents (ERITA), Treatment for SelfInjurious Behaviors (T-SIB) and Intensive Contextual Treatment (ICT). Furthermore, relevant improvements in anxiety and depression symptoms were observed. The results of this review demonstrate the effectiveness of these interventions, mainly the CPD and T-SIB, which arethe only SPI that have been studied using Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). Considering the clinical relevance and associated functional impairment of NSSI, more research is needed to replicate the results and to increase knowledge about SPIs. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP.

Automated summary

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a clinically significant behavior that affects approximately 17-18% of the global adolescent population. This study conducted a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of specific psychotherapeutic interventions (SPI) in reducing NSSI behaviors. Thirteen studies were included in the review, and six SPI were found to significantly reduce NSSI in adolescents, with improvements in anxiety and depression symptoms. CPD and T-SIB were the only SPI studied using randomized controlled trials. Further research is needed to replicate these results and expand knowledge about SPIs.