Personality traits and self-harm behaviors among Chinese children and adolescents: The mediating effect of psychological resilience

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that personality traits are associated with self-harm (SH) in adolescents. However, the role of resilience in this association remains unclear. Our research aims to explore the hypothesized mediation effect of resilience in the relationship between personality traits and SH in Chinese children and adolescents. AIM: To evaluate resilience as a mediator of the association between personality traits and SH. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional survey involving 4471 children and adolescents in Yunnan province in southwestern China was carried out. Relevant data were collected by self-reporting questionnaires. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were employed to identify associated factors of SH. A path model was used to assess the mediation effect of resilience with respect to personality traits and SH association. RESULTS: Among the 4471 subjects, 1795 reported SH, with a prevalence of 40.1% (95%CI: 34.4%-46.0%). All dimensions of personality traits were significantly associated with SH prevalence. Resilience significantly mediated the associations between three dimensions of personality (extroversion, neuroticism, psychoticism) and SH, accounting for 21.5%, 4.53%, and 9.65%, respectively, of the total associations. Among all dimensions of resilience, only emotional regulation played a significant mediation role. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that improving emotion regulation ability might be effective in preventing personality-associated SH among Chinese children and adolescents.