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Poor Sleep as a Risk Factor for Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Adolescent Girls

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between poor sleep and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), and to test the hypothesis that poor sleep is a risk factor for the development of NSSI in young adolescents. Questionnaire data were used from a 2-wave longitudinal study of a community sample of 881 young Swedish adolescents. The results showed that 7 % of the girls reported poor sleep (never or seldom sleeping well), and 20–26 % of the girls reported repeated NSSI (at least 5 instances). Poor sleep was associated prospectively with NSSI among girls, but not among boys. Of girls who responded that they seldom or never slept well at T1, 77 % reported repeated NSSI 1 year later. Poor sleep at T1 was found to predict the incidence of new cases of repeated NSSI in girls at T2, independently of their degree of psychopathology. No similar relationship between poor sleep and NSSI was found in boys. The present results suggest that screening for poor sleep in adolescents may serve to identify a subgroup of girls at risk for developing NSSI. It is concluded that poor sleep in young girls should be taken seriously, even in the absence of other self-reported psychological problems, and that interventions targeted at sleep disturbances may be important for prevention.

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Notes

  1. In the Swedish language, there is a differentiation between “skära” (which is deeper) and “rispa” (which is more superficial). In the present paper, this distinction has been translated into “cutting” and “minor cutting”.

  2. Or, alternatively, if the general question about NSSI contains exemplifications (e.g., mentioning cutting and burning as examples of NSSI), it may be expected to activate a mix of episodic and semantic information – although the information from episodic memory will probably be restricted to episodes characterized by the specific examples of NSSI mentioned in the question, thereby leading to lower rates of self-reported NSSI than typical checklist questionnaires which contain a wider range of examples.

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Acknowledgments

The present research was financed by the Swedish Council for Working life and Social Research (FAS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Lund University, Box 213, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Lars-Gunnar Lundh, Jonas Bjärehed & Margit Wångby-Lundh

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  1. Lars-Gunnar Lundh
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  2. Jonas Bjärehed
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  3. Margit Wångby-Lundh
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Correspondence to Lars-Gunnar Lundh.

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Lundh, LG., Bjärehed, J. & Wångby-Lundh, M. Poor Sleep as a Risk Factor for Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Adolescent Girls. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 35, 85–92 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-012-9307-4

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