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Differentiating adolescent self-injury from adolescent depression: possible implications for borderline personality
Sheila E Crowell1, Theodore P Beauchaine, Ray C Hsiao
1Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. sheila.crowell@psych.utah.edu
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
|October 22, 2011
Summary
Adolescent self-inflicted injury (SII) is distinct from depression, showing higher externalizing problems and lower physiological arousal. These differences suggest unique developmental pathways for self-harm and depression.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Developmental Neuroscience
Background:
- Self-inflicted injury (SII) in adolescence is a significant risk factor for suicide attempts, completed suicide, and adult psychopathology.
- While depression is common in adolescents with SII, direct comparisons with depression using multi-method, multi-informant approaches are lacking.
- Understanding these differences is crucial for effective treatment, prevention, and developmental models of SII and borderline personality disorder.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare adolescent self-inflicted injury (SII) with adolescent depression.
- To examine differences using biological, self-report, and informant-report markers of vulnerability and risk.
- To investigate implications for treatment, prevention, and developmental models.
Main Methods:
- A multi-method, multi-informant approach was employed.
- Participants included 75 adolescent females (25 self-injuring, 25 depressed, 25 typical controls) and their mothers.
- Measures included psychopathology, emotion regulation, and electrodermal responding (EDR) as a biomarker of impulsivity.
Main Results:
- Adolescents in the SII group scored higher on externalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation compared to depressed adolescents.
- The SII group exhibited attenuated electrodermal responding (EDR), similar to patterns seen in impulsive, externalizing males.
- Self-injuring adolescents also showed higher scores on measures of borderline personality pathology.
Conclusions:
- Distinct patterns of psychopathology, emotion dysregulation, and biological response differentiate adolescent self-inflicted injury from depression.
- Findings support theories suggesting that SII and depression have different etiologies and developmental trajectories.
- These distinctions are vital for tailoring interventions and advancing our understanding of adolescent mental health.
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