The Effect of Bullying Victimization on Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: The Mediating Roles of Alexithymia and Self-Esteem

Figures & data

Figure 1 The hypothetical model for this study.

Table 1 The Demographic Characteristics of Participants

Variables	Total participants	NSSI		Z/χ²	p
	(n = 1299)	Yes (n = 475, 36.6%)	No (n = 824, 63.4%)
Age	15.33(1.51)	15.25(1.54)	15.38(1.49)	−1.31	0.19
Gender
Male	607(46.7%)	218(45.9%)	389(47.2%)	0.21	0.65
Female	692(53.3%)	257(54.1%)	435(52.8%)
Grade
Junior middle school	566(45.1%)	188(39.6%)	378(45.9%)	4.86	0.03
Senior middle school	733(54.9%)	287(60.4%)	446(54.1%)
Only children
Yes	72(5.5%)	31(6.5%)	41(5.0%)	1.38	0.24
No	1227(94.5%)	444(93.5%)	783(95.0%)
Left behind status
Yes	858(66.1%)	337(70.9%)	521(63.2%)	8.01	0.01
No	441(33.9%)	138(29.1%)	303(36.8%)
Residence
Village	766(59.0%)	267(56.2%)	499(60.6%)	2.35	0.13
Town	533(41.0%)	208(43.8%)	325(39.4%)
Accommodation type
Boarding student	371(28.6%)	131(27.6%)	240(29.1%)	0.35	0.55
Commuting student	928(71.4%)	344(72.4%)	584(70.9%)
Academic performance
Excellent	432(33.3%)	150(31.6%)	282(34.2%)	1.02	0.6
Good	565(43.5%)	210(44.2%)	355(43.1%)
Poor	302(23.2%)	115(24.2%)	187(22.7%)
Family structure
Two-parent families	1145(88.1%)	415(87.4%)	730(88.6%)	1.22	0.54
Single-parent families	104(8.0%)	43(9.1%)	61(7.4%)
Reorganized families	50(3.9%)	17(3.5%)	33(4.0%)
Father’s educational level
Junior middle school and below	796(61.3%)	282(59.4%)	514(62.4%)	2.03	0.36
Senior middle school	394(30.3%)	147(31.0%)	247(30.0%)
College and above	109(8.4%)	46(9.6%)	63(7.6%)
Mother’s educational level
Junior middle school and below	929(71.5%)	336(70.7%)	593(72.0%)	0.37	0.83
Senior middle school	294(22.6%)	109(23.0)	185(22.5%)
College and above	76(5.9%)	30(6.3%)	46(5.5%)

Table 2 The Intergroup Comparison of Bullying Victimization, Alexithymia, and Self-Esteem

Variable	Total sample	NSSI		Z/χ²	p
	(n = 1299)	Yes (n = 475)	No (n = 824)
Bullying victimization	9.71(12.18)	13.13(14.77)	7.73(9.87)	−8.411	<0.001
Physical victimization	2.09(3.24)	2.89(3.94)	1.62(2.65)	−7.442	<0.001
Verbal victimization	4.08(4.24)	5.29(4.94)	3.38(3.61)	−7.465	<0.001
Relational victimization	2.56(3.55)	3.55(4.32)	1.99(2.86)	−7.709	<0.001
Cyberbullying victimization	0.98(2.93)	1.40(3.57)	0.74(2.45)	−5.245	<0.001
Alexithymia	55.27(10.38)	58.44(10.532)	53.45(9.847)	−8.766	<0.001
Yes	398(30.6%)	213(44.8%)	185(22.5%)	71.081	<0.001
No	901(69.4%)	262(55.2%)	639(77.5%)
Difficulty in identifying feelings	19.81(5.95)	21.84(6.17)	18.65(5.49)	−9.402	<0.001
Difficulty in describing feelings	14.69(3.39)	15.47(3.45)	14.24(3.27)	−6.520	<0.001
Externally oriented thinking	20.77(2.87)	21.13(2.914)	20.56(2.817)	−3.539	<0.001
Self-esteem	28.33(5.02)	26.37(5.01)	29.46(4.67)	−10.769	<0.001

Table 3 | Bivariate Correlations Among Variables in This Study (n = 1299)

Variables	1	2	3	4
1 Bullying victimization	1.00
2 Alexithymia	0.24**	1.00
3 Self-esteem	−0.26**	−0.45**	1.00
4 NSSI	0.39**	0.23**	−0.29**	1.00
M	9.71	55.27	28.33	4.59
SD	12.18	10.38	5.02	11.71

Note: **p<0.01.

Table 4 | Risk Factors for NSSI (n = 1299)

	B	SE	Wals	p	OR	95% CI
						Lower	Upper
Grade	0.356	0.128	7.790	0.005	1.428	1.112	1.834
Left behind	0.262	0.134	3.851	0.050	1.300	1.000	1.689
Alexithymia	0.021	0.007	9.309	0.002	1.021	1.008	1.035
Self-esteem	−0.104	0.015	50.406	0.000	0.901	0.876	0.927
Bullying victimization	0.026	0.006	21.368	0.000	1.026	1.015	1.037
Constant	0.192	0.672	0.082	0.775	1.212

Figure 2 Multiple mediation effects model for bullying victimization predicting NSSI. DIF, difficulty in identifying feelings; DDF, difficulty in describing feelings; EOT, externally oriented thinking; SE1–SE3, three parcels of self-esteem; **p<0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Table 5 | Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects of the Structural Model

Effect	Path	Standardized β	The size of Effect	Boot SE	95% CI
Total	BV→NSSI	0.405
Direct	BV→NSSI	0.314
IndA1	BV→Alexithymia→NSSI	0.024	5.93%	0.011	0.004, 0.048
IndA2	BV→SE→NSSI	0.036	8.89%	0.010	0.019, 0.056
IndA3	BV→Alexithymia→SE→NSSI	0.031	7.65%	0.006	0.021, 0.045