Greater childhood adversity predicts a higher likelihood of later self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB). There is little research focused on whether the timing of childhood adversity predicts SITB. The current research examined whether the timing of childhood adversity predicted parent- and youth-reported SITB at age 12 and 16 years in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) cohort (n = 970). We found that greater adversity at age 11–12 years consistently predicted SITB at age 12 years, while greater adversity at age 13–14 years consistently predicted SITB at age 16 years. These findings suggest there may be sensitive periods during which adversity may be more likely to lead to adolescent SITB, which can inform prevention and treatment.

更大的童年逆境预示着以后出现自残思想和行为 (SITB) 的可能性更高。很少有研究关注童年逆境的时间是否可以预测 SITB。目前的研究检查了儿童虐待和忽视纵向研究 (LONGSCAN) 队列（n = 970）中童年逆境的时间是否可以预测 12 岁和 16 岁时父母和青少年报告的SITB。我们发现，11-12 岁时更大的逆境一致预测 12 岁时的 SITB，而 13-14 岁时更大的逆境一致预测 16 岁时的 SITB。这些发现表明可能存在敏感期，在此期间逆境更可能导致青少年 SITB，这可以为预防和治疗提供信息。