Association Among Self-Injury, Suicidal Tendency, and Personality and Psychological Characteristics in Korean Adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To compare mental health problems and personality characteristics between adolescents with self-injury (SI) and suicidal tendency (ST), including suicidal ideation and suicide planning. METHODS: The participants completed the Adolescent Personality and Mental Health Problems Screening Questionnaire, Third version (AMPQ-III), and Korean version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Kr), and gave their demographic information. Based on the answered SI and ST items in AMPQ-III, the participants were divided into groups: without SI and ST, with SI and without ST, without SI and with ST, and with SI and ST. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc Scheffe test were used to determine group differences, stepwise multiple linear regression, and factors associated with SI and ST. RESULTS: ANOVA yielded results for all categories of mental health problems. Significant differences were observed between the four groups. Conversely, for personality characteristics, only the sense of community item between the group without SI and with ST and the group without SI and ST were significantly different; sense of community was associated with ST (β=-0.054, p=0.005). Among the mental health subscales, SI was significantly associated with conduct problems (β=0.211, p<0.001), emotional problems (β=0.173, p<0.001), peer problems (β=0.085, p<0.001), and prosocial behavior (β=0.073, p<0.001). ST was significantly associated with emotional symptoms (β=0.317, p<0.001), peer problems (β=0.130, p<0.001), conduct problems (β=0.106, p<0.001), hyperactivity (β=0.050, p=0.010), and prosocial behavior (β=0.062, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the necessity of assessing psychological strength, difficulties, and personality characteristics for the prevention and early intervention of adolescent SI.