Self-Compassion as a Mediator Linking Sleep Disturbances with Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Four-Wave, Cross-Lagged Study

Objective: This longitudinal study examined the reciprocal relationship between sleep disturbances with non-suicidal self-injury and whether self-compassion mediates these associations. Methods: A total of 5785 freshmen were sampled from a large-scale health-related cohort among Chinese college students at the baseline. This study spanned six waves with a six-month interval between each wave. Data from the last four waves were used because self-compassion or non-suicidal self-injury was not measured in the first two waves. The cross-lagged panel models were used to examine the longitudinal dynamic relationships between sleep disturbances, self-compassion, and non-suicidal self-injury. Results: The results showed that all the auto-regressive paths were significant. For the cross-lagged paths, there was a reciprocal relation between sleep disturbances and self-compassion. Importantly, self-compassion played a longitudinal mediating role in the prediction from sleep disturbances to non-suicidal self-injury (indirect effect = 0.007 to 0.009, all p values < 0.001). Conclusion: Psychological interventions targeting improved sleep quality and self-compassion may hold great promise for reducing the incidence of non-suicidal self-injury.