Latent Class Analysis of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among Justice-Involved Juveniles: Association With Motivational and Emotional Aspects of Self-Harm Behavior

Significantly higher rates of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) have been discovered among justice-involved juveniles. Our study aimed to discriminate homogeneous subgroups of justice-involved youth with different self-harm behavior characteristics based on latent class analysis. A total of 244 adolescents (92.6% boys; M-age = 16.99, SD = 1.28) in Hungarian juvenile detention centers completed measures of NSSI and dissociation. High-NSSI (Class 1; 9%), moderate-NSSI (Class 2; 42.6%), and low-NSSI (Class 3; 48.4%) profiles were detected relating to different forms of NSSI. Multiple comparisons showed that girls were members of Class 1 and 2 at higher rates and these subgroups showed significantly higher dissociation proportions than Class 3. Our findings pointed out diversity in self-harm profiles with different characteristics in terms of methods and severity of self-harm, experienced emotions, and other emotion regulation tendencies among justice-involved adolescents. These results suggest sophisticated treatment approaches to match variations in severity and presentation.

Automated summary

The study identified different profiles of self-harm behavior among justice-involved adolescents, including high-NSSI, moderate-NSSI, and low-NSSI, with higher rates of female members in Classes 1 and 2 and significantly higher dissociation proportions. The findings suggest the need for sophisticated treatment approaches to match the diverse characteristics of self-harm profiles among justice-involved youth.