Treating Adolescent Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: A Review of Psychosocial Interventions to Guide Clinical Practice

This systematic review aims to inform practitioners about the current research-informed practices that are available to treat adolescents who struggle with Non Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI). A computer based search of the literature was conducted via five databases and resulted in the retrieval of 595 articles, seven of which met all the inclusion criteria (peer-reviewed, published in English between 2000 and 2016, differentiated NSSI from suicidal self-harm, were randomized control trials of interventions, and targeted adolescents age 12–18 who were not diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorders). Four psychosocial interventions were identified, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, mentalization based treatment for adolescents, developmental group intervention, and therapeutic assessment and brief intervention. At this time, there is no published randomized control trial that demonstrates a significant reduction in NSSI among adolescents. This further highlights the urgent need to develop and test effective and varied interventions for adolescents presenting with NSSI.