Sleep problems mediate the influence of childhood emotional maltreatment on adolescent non-suicidal self-injury: The moderating effect of rumination

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a highly serious public health problem among adolescents in China, and childhood emotional maltreatment has been found to be a risk factor for NSSI. Little is known about the longitudinal association between childhood emotional maltreatment and NSSI as well as its underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms. Thus, we hypothesized whether sleep problems mediated the association between childhood emotional maltreatment and NSSI, and whether this indirect effect was moderated by rumination. A total of 1987 Chinese adolescents (56.1 % males; ages 10 to 14, M = 12.32, SD = 0.53) completed self-report questionnaires regarding childhood emotional maltreatment, sleep problems, rumination non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in three waves. Structural equation model was used to test a moderated mediation model, with gender, age and socioeconomic status and baseline measures as covariates. Childhood emotional maltreatment was significantly associated with NSSI, and this association was mediated by sleep problems. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that rumination intensified the relation between childhood emotional maltreatment and sleep problems as well as the relation between sleep problems and NSSI. Findings of this study demonstrate a relationship among childhood emotional maltreatment, sleep problems, rumination and NSSI. Interventions that target sleep problems and rumination may be beneficial for reducing NSSI for at-risk adolescents.