Rates of non-suicidal self-injury in high school students across five years

It is believed that the rate of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among high school students is increasing. However, no known research has examined the rates of NSSI among non-clinical, high school samples of adolescents across several years. The current study utilized archival data from five academic years [2001 to 2005 (N = 1393)] to address this limitation by examining the lifetime prevalence rates of NSSI in urban high school students within the Midwestern United States. Results indicate a significant difference in rates across years by gender. Females showed a significant increase in their rates of NSSI compared to males, who showed a significant decline, during the last 3 years of the study. Implications of these findings for school personnel and directions for future research discussed.