Maladaptive Perfectionism and Adolescent Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury: A Longitudinal Moderated Mediation Model of Hopelessness and Self‐Concept Clarity
Honglei Gu, Yuqing Xiao, Xichen Ai, Meng Fan, Tiansheng XiaABSTRACT
Objective
The Benefits and Barriers Model of nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) suggests that individuals with maladaptive perfectionism may be prone to negative self‐views when facing failure, which may be associated with lowered psychological barriers to NSSI. Based on this framework, the present three‐wave longitudinal study examined whether hopelessness mediated the association between maladaptive perfectionism and later NSSI, and whether this indirect association varied as a function of self‐concept clarity.
Methods
A sample of 786 Chinese adolescents (51.8% girls; M age = 13.27, SD = 0.74) participated in a three‐wave longitudinal study with 6‐month intervals. Maladaptive perfectionism and NSSI were assessed at baseline, hopelessness and self‐concept clarity at the 6‐month follow‐up, and NSSI again at the 12‐month follow‐up.
Results
After controlling for gender, age, baseline hopelessness, and baseline NSSI, baseline maladaptive perfectionism was indirectly associated with NSSI at the 12‐month follow‐up through hopelessness at the 6‐month follow‐up. The hopelessness–later NSSI association varied by self‐concept clarity and was weaker among adolescents with higher self‐concept clarity.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that hopelessness may be relevant to understanding later NSSI among adolescents, and that self‐concept clarity may help identify variability in the strength of the hopelessness–later NSSI association. Any prevention or intervention implications involving self‐concept clarity should be considered tentative until future longitudinal, experimental, or intervention research determines whether changes in self‐concept clarity precede changes in NSSI risk or produce downstream improvements in self‐injury‐related outcomes.