Parental emotional warmth and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese adolescents: The mediating effect of bullying involvement and moderating effect of the dark triad

Previous studies have mostly explored the relationship between negative parenting styles and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), while little research has investigated the role of parental emotional warmth in NSSI. The present study constructed two moderated mediation models and explored the effects of multiple factors, involving family, peer, and individual aspects, on NSSI. A random cluster sampling of 955 adolescents (490 boys, Mage = 13.33 years, SD = 1.29) was surveyed using questionnaires to measure parental emotional warmth, bullying perpetration and victimization, the dark triad, and NSSI. The results showed that parental emotional warmth was negatively associated with NSSI. Bullying perpetration and bullying victimization mediated the relationship between these two, respectively. Moreover, the dark triad moderated the relationships between bullying perpetration and NSSI, as well as bullying victimization and NSSI, and further moderated both mediating pathways. That is, for adolescents with lower levels of the dark triad, parental emotional warmth is more conducive to reducing the risk of NSSI by decreasing bullying involvement. Accordingly, there is a need for educators to provide youth with as much emotional support as possible and create a warm and healthy environment for growing up, which might help to prevent and mitigate their NSSI.