Background: This study aimed to investigate the pathways relationships coping strategies and childhood trauma With self-injurious behavior, with a focus on the mediating role of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) in adolescents.
Method: A descriptive-correlational design was employed. The study population comprised all students from Meraj Girls’ High School and Shahid Motahari Boys’ High School in Tabriz. A sample of 280 students (190 girls and 90 boys) was selected through multistage cluster random sampling. Data were collected using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 2003), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations–Short Form (Endler & Parker, 1990), the Self-Injury Questionnaire (Sansone et al., 1998), and the Repetitive Negative Thinking Questionnaire (McEvoy et al., 2010). Data were analyzed using correlation matrices and path analysis with SPSS-27 and AMOS-24 software.
Findings: The results indicated that higher levels of childhood trauma were associated with increased RNT and a greater likelihood of self-injurious behavior. While maladaptive coping strategies exacerbated RNT, the use of adaptive coping strategies was linked to reduced RNT and lower instances of self-injurious behavior (p < .05). However, the mediating role of RNT in the relationship between childhood trauma, coping strategies, and self-injurious behavior was not statistically significant (p > .05).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that childhood trauma and coping strategies significantly influence cognitive-behavioral patterns in adolescence, potentially leading to adverse outcomes. It is recommended that mental health professionals and policymakers prioritize early interventions and the promotion of effective coping skills to mitigate the long-term consequences of these maladaptive patterns.