Family Economic Hardship and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among Chinese Adolescents: Relative Deprivation as a Mediator and Self-Esteem as a Moderator

The literature provides empirical evidence that family economic hardship can increase the likelihood of adolescents engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Guided by the risky families model, this study aimed to investigate whether relative deprivation mediates the link between family economic hardship and adolescent NSSI, and whether self-esteem moderates this indirect link. A combined 673 adolescents (45.9% female; <i>M</i>_age = 12.81 years) completed measures of family economic hardship, relative deprivation, self-esteem, and NSSI. The results verified that relative deprivation mediated the positive link between family economic hardship and NSSI. Additionally, self-esteem moderated the effect of family economic hardship on relative deprivation. Adolescents possessing high self-esteem reported lower relative deprivation compared to those possessing low self-esteem, regardless of their level of family economic hardship. Notably, the mitigating effect of high self-esteem diminished with high family economic hardship. These findings provide deeper insights into the mechanisms by which family economic hardship affect adolescent NSSI, and have practical implications for prevention and intervention strategies targeting this behavior.