Functions of nonsuicidal self-injury in a Hungarian community adolescent sample: a psychometric investigation

BACKGROUND: The Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury (ISAS) is a psychometrically valid tool to evaluate the motives of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), but there are a few studies that test gender differences in the factor structure of the measurement. However, several differences across gender were identified in NSSI (e.g., in prevalence, methods, functions). Therefore, our study focused on further analyses of the dimensionality of the ISAS functions. METHODS: Among Hungarian adolescents with a history of NSSI (N = 418; 70.6% girls; mean age was 16.86, SD = 1.45), confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling frameworks were used to test the factor structure of the ISAS part II. RESULTS: Results support the two-factor structure of the questionnaire. Intrapersonal and interpersonal motivation factors emerged in the whole sample, but this factor structure varied across gender. Among girls, intrapersonal motivation of NSSI was associated with higher loneliness, more inflexible emotion regulation, and a more pronounced level of internalizing and externalizing mental illness symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide sufficiently solid arguments for the need to examine NSSI functionality separately for adolescent girls and boys because there were clear gender differences in the motives underlying NSSI. In addition, precise scanning of patterns of NSSI functions may further help us to identify the most at-risk adolescents regarding self-injury. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-021-03613-4.