Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen Institute of Mental Health, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
2 papers in the library · 3 citations · publishing 2025
Adolescents who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) show deficits in cognitive control, reflected in lower accuracy and sensitivity on an emotional go/no-go task, along with reduced P3 amplitude and theta power measured by EEG. A brief 10-minute deep breath meditation intervention, but not natural breath meditation, restored the decreased no-go theta power in these adolescents. Resting-state EEG microstate D, which reflects attention network activation, differed between meditation strategies and predicted NSSI remission one month later. The findings identify inhibition deficits and specific neural markers (P3, theta power, microstate D) that may aid diagnosis, track intervention effects, and forecast outcomes.
A twelve-week program combining loving-kindness meditation and mindfulness of breathing appears feasible for adolescents who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and their parents. Among 28 adolescents, NSSI behavior decreased significantly at the end of the program and at a three-month follow-up, and depressive symptoms decreased significantly at three months. Parents reported improved emotion regulation and parenting attitudes, and both adolescents and parents perceived better parent-child relationships. Satisfaction with the intervention was high (4.27 out of 5), and adolescent dropout was modest (14.2%), though parent dropout was 33%. Qualitative feedback indicated positive attitudes but challenges in sustaining practice. A larger randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm effectiveness.