Family dysfunction and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese college students: A longitudinal moderated mediation model involving depressive symptoms and self-compassion

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a major public health issue in college students. However, there is a lack of evidence on the longitudinal association between family dysfunction and NSSI as well as its underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms. Thus, we hypothesized whether depressive symptoms mediated the association between family dysfunction and NSSI, and whether this indirect effect was moderated by self-compassion. Data are from the first three waves of an ongoing longitudinal study, conducted at half-year intervals. A total of 5608 freshmen (48.2% female, Mage = 18.63, SD = 0.88) completed self-report questionnaires regarding family dysfunction, depressive symptoms, self-compassion, and NSSI. After adjusting for covariates and previous outcomes, mediation analyses revealed that depressive symptoms at T2 mediated the relationship between family dysfunction at T1 and NSSI at T3. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that self-compassion weakened the strength of the relationship between family dysfunction at T1 and depressive symptoms at T2, as well as that between depressive symptoms at T2 and NSSI at T3. This study highlights the importance of considering multiple environmental and individual factors to understand the development of NSSI.