Non-suicidal self-harm is linked to suicidal thoughts in Chinese adolescents with mood disorders: a cross-sectional report.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to any intentional, self-inflicted behavior that causes direct damage to body tissues (Kerr et al., 2010), and has emerged as a challenging public health issue worldwide, especially among adolescents. The most common presentations of NSSI include skin-cutting, severe scratching, and burning (Whitlock et al., 2006). In a community-based study conducted in England, 6% of 5506 adolescents reported self-harm in 2014, and 1320 adolescents (74% aged 15‒17 years) presented to hospitals due to non-fatal self-harm (Geulayov et al., 2018). In Australia, 8% of adolescents aged less than 20 years reported a history of self-harm (Hiscock et al., 2018). In addition, the prevalence of NSSI has significantly increased in recent years. It was reported by McManus et al. (2019) that the prevalence of self-reported lifetime NSSI increased from 2.4% in 2000 to 6.4% in 2014, with the largest increase in females aged 16–24 years (from 6.5% to 19.7%). Researchers have also proposed an "iceberg" model of self-harm, indicating that the phenomenon of NSSI is often concealed and that most individuals with NSSI do not seek help from others (McMahon et al., 2014; Geulayov et al., 2018).