How Authoritative School Climate Predicts Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Over Time: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Adolescence is a critical period for the onset of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Previous research has identified a negative association between school climate and NSSI. However, most of these studies are cross-sectional. This study employed Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models (RI-CLPM) to distinguish within-person effects from between-person effects. The study included 1,119 adolescents, with an average age of 13.15 years (SD = 1.26), and females accounted for 50.2% of the sample. Data were collected at six-month intervals across four waves. The results showed that overall school climate had a significant lagged effect on NSSI. At the dimensional level, six components—teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships, school engagement, clarity of expectations, fairness of rules, and school safety—showed significant negative lagged effects on NSSI, except for school bullying. At the between-person level, all dimensions were negatively associated with NSSI. Grounded in authoritative school climate theory, this study provides longitudinal evidence that school climate functions as a protective factor against adolescent NSSI and clarifies the temporal and multilevel pathways linking school environments to self-injurious behavior.