Day-to-day peer and family stress as proximal correlates of self-injurious thoughts during adolescence

Theory and research both highlight interpersonal stressors as precipitants to self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) during adolescence. Yet, little is known about near-term risk or which types of interpersonal stressors (e.g., peer and/or family) are most likely to precipitate adolescent SITBs. This study used an intensive longitudinal design to examine whether peer- and family-related stress were associated with adolescents’ same- and next-day self-injurious thoughts. Participants were 154 female adolescents aged 12–17 years (77.3% White). Youth were oversampled for risk such that 73.4% ( n = 113) were at high risk for future SITBs. Youth completed a 30-day ecological momentary assessment procedure assessing interpersonal experiences and SITBs. Multilevel models showed that peer stress predicted same-day nonsuicidal self-injury urges and suicidal ideation (SI), whereas family stress predicted same-day nonsuicidal self-injury urges only. Neither peer nor family stress predicted next-day self-injurious thoughts. Exploratory models examining bidirectional effects showed that non-suicidal self-injury urges predicted next-day peer and family stress while SI predicted next-day family, but not peer, stress. Findings suggest that daily interpersonal stress is proximally associated with self-injurious thoughts during adolescence and underscore the importance of studying these processes in real time. Results may have implications for ecological momentary interventions to interrupt interpersonal risks for SITBs.