Poor sleep as a risk factor for nonsuicidal self-injury in adolescent girls

The purpose of this study was to examine the
relation between poor sleep and nonsuicidal self-injury
(NSSI), and to test the hypothesis that poor sleep is a risk
factor for the development of NSSI in young adolescents.
Questionnaire data were used from a 2-wave longitudinal
study of a community sample of 881 young Swedish adolescents.
The results showed that 7 % of the girls reported poor
sleep (never or seldom sleeping well), and 20–26 % of the
girls reported repeated NSSI (at least 5 instances). Poor sleep
was associated prospectively with NSSI among girls, but not
among boys. Of girls who responded that they seldom or
never slept well at T1, 77 % reported repeated NSSI 1 year
later. Poor sleep at T1 was found to predict the incidence of
new cases of repeated NSSI in girls at T2, independently of
their degree of psychopathology. No similar relationship between
poor sleep and NSSI was found in boys. The present
results suggest that screening for poor sleep in adolescents
may serve to identify a subgroup of girls at risk for developing
NSSI. It is concluded that poor sleep in young girls should be
taken seriously, even in the absence of other self-reported
psychological problems, and that interventions targeted at
sleep disturbances may be important for prevention.