Parenting in the early years and self-harm in adolescence: The role of control and reward systems in childhood

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that early parenting may contribute to the development of self-harm but this has not been examined longitudinally. In this study, we explored the relationship between early parenting and self-harm in adolescence and considered whether (1) emotion regulation and (2) decision-making in childhood mediate the relationship between early parenting and self-harm. METHOD: Using longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), we tested mediation models exploring the relationship between early parenting and self-harm in adolescence via emotion regulation and decision-making. Parenting was assessed at age 3 with measures of conflict, closeness and discipline. The trajectories of independence & self-regulation and emotional dysregulation were modelled from ages 3 to 7 years through latent growth curve analysis, with individual predicted slope and intercept values used in the mediation models. Decision-making (deliberation time, total time, delay aversion, quality of decision making, risk adjustment, risk-taking) was assessed using the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT) at age 11. RESULTS: In our sample (n = 11,145), we found no evidence of a direct association between early parenting and self-harm in adolescence. However, there were indirect effects of parenting (conflict and closeness) on self-harm via the slope of emotional dysregulation. Furthermore, delay aversion was positively associated with self-harm in adolescence. LIMITATIONS: It must be acknowledged that we cannot determine causality and that self-report measures of parenting are vulnerable to several biases. CONCLUSION: The findings support early identification and interventions for children exhibiting chronic emotional dysregulation and decision-making characterised by a bias for smaller, immediate over larger, delayed rewards.