The transactional relationship between over‐parenting and non‐suicidal self‐injury among Chinese and Belgian adolescents: A random intercept cross‐lagged study

Abstract Previous cross‐sectional studies have linked over‐parenting to adolescent non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI), but within‐person associations, especially across cultures, remain unexplored. This study investigated the transactional association between over‐parenting and NSSI among Chinese ( N = 596, M age = 15.05, SD age = 1.27) and Belgian ( N = 213, M age = 14.22, SD age = 1.57) adolescents using a random‐intercept cross‐lagged panel model (RI‐CLPM) across three waves with a 3‐month interval. The results revealed no significant within‐person predictive effects between over‐parenting and NSSI over time in either the Chinese or Belgian subsample. However, a significant between‐person association was observed in the Chinese sample, but not in the Belgian sample. Multi‐group RI‐CLPM analysis indicated no significant cross‐cultural differences in autoregressive and cross‐lagged paths, nor in between‐ or within‐person associations, suggesting cultural similarities. Potential mechanisms linking over‐parenting to NSSI and directions for future research are discussed.