Reciprocal associations between overparenting and nonsuicidal self‐injury in Chinese adolescents: The roles of emotional granularity and self‐differentiation

Abstract Nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is a prevalent public health problem among adolescents. Focusing on the Chinese cultural context, this study examines the reciprocal relationships between overparenting and NSSI, as well as the mechanisms that may account for this link. Participants were all Chinese adolescents ( N = 419, 47.30% girls) with an average age of 13.49 years old ( SD = 0.99), drawn from a three‐wave longitudinal study with 1‐year interval between each wave. A cross‐lagged panel model was constructed to explore the bidirectional associations between overparenting and NSSI in adolescents, and a moderated mediation model was constructed to verify the mediating role of emotional granularity and the moderating role of self‐differentiation. The key findings were as follows: (1) There were reciprocal cross‐lagged effects between overparenting and NSSI among adolescents. (2) Overparenting not only directly predicted the occurrence of NSSI but also indirectly influenced it through the mediator of emotional granularity. (3) Self‐differentiation moderated the effect of overparenting on emotional granularity. Findings highlight the significance of considering dynamic interrelations between distal and proximal factors for the adaptive development of adolescents.