Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been reported to increase over time, but less is known about trends in specific self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) and their associations with psychological difficulties. This study examines individual SIBs, their prevalence, co-occurrence, and relationships with psychological difficulties among Swedish adolescents aged 14–15. Data were drawn from the longitudinal SoL-project, with samples collected in the same municipality during two periods: 2007–2008 (N ~ 1000) and 2023–2024 (N ~ 800).

We observed a significant increase in the prevalence of repetitive NSSI (≥5 instances of any SIB) among girls across the two time periods (OR = 5.72, p < .001). Increases in SIBs among girls included cutting oneself (21.0% → 30.2%), minor cutting (26.3% → 32%), burning oneself (13.2% → 21.0%), severe scratching (23% → 34.4%), sticking sharp objects into the skin (18.5% → 25.5%), punching oneself (27.9% → 33.7%), and preventing wounds from healing (25.9% → 30.1%). In contrast, no significant change in repetitive NSSI prevalence was observed for boys (OR = .74, p = .515). For specific SIBs among boys, prevalences could be estimated to 7.0−17.1% in 2023–2024, representing a relative decrease of -14.3% (sticking sharp objects into skin) to -38.3% (preventing wounds from healing) in comparison to 2007–2008. The association between psychological difficulties with repetitive NSSI and the prevalence of specific SIBs was similar between periods for girls/boys. Network analysis of SIB co-occurrence revealed stable, homogenous relationships between periods.

Our findings highlight a troubling increase in specific SIBs among Swedish girls, with consistent associations between these behaviours and psychological difficulties. In contrast, boys exhibited stable or declining patterns. These results emphasize the need for gender-sensitive prevention and intervention strategies focusing on SIBs.

We conclude by outlining future research directions and inviting collaboration to address these trends in adolescent mental health.

To ensure adolescents receive timely interventions and to design sustainable mental healthcare services, it is crucial to identify the factors predicting mental health service use in this age group. While some predictors have been identified in previous research, inconsistencies remain, and family factors have received limited attention. Additionally, there is a lack of community-based longitudinal studies examining how various factors predict adolescents’ service use over time. A sample (n = 822) from two birth cohorts of children in the city of Trondheim, Norway, was assessed biennially from age 12 to 18 years, by means of clinical interviews and questionnaires. The autoregressive cross-lagged panel model revealed a consistent pattern in which specialty mental health service use at each time point predicted continued service use at the next time point. Also, adolescents who experienced stressful life events consistently utilized specialty mental health services across all time points. For 16-year-olds, higher levels of internalizing symptoms and lower levels of family functioning were significant predictors of service use two years later. These findings suggest that adolescents who experience negative life events are more likely to be referred to specialty mental health services. Furthermore, middle adolescence appears to be a critical period during which family dynamics and emotional difficulties are associated with an increased likelihood of referrals. These findings highlight the potential for health services to consider family and emotional factors when assessing referral pathways and support strategies.

Suicidal ideation and behaviors often stem from self-destructive patterns such as nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and disordered eating (DE), compounded by mental health challenges like depression. Recent data from the National Board of Health and Welfare highlight a rise in adolescent mental health issues, with self-destructive behaviors serving as precursors to suicide. Understanding these trends is critical for identifying at-risk groups and shaping prevention strategies.

This study examined changes in the prevalence of NSSI, DE, and psychological difficulties among Swedish adolescents aged 14–15 across two time periods in the longitudinal SoL-project: 2007–2008 (N ~ 1000) and 2023–2024 (N ~ 800). Gender-specific analyses focused on severe manifestations, including repetitive NSSI, high-risk DE, and clinically relevant psychological difficulties. Comorbidity trends between NSSI or DE and psychological difficulties were also explored.

Findings revealed stark gender disparities. Among girls, repetitive NSSI prevalence more than doubled (OR = 5.72, p < .0001) across the last decades, while DE symptom severity increased significantly (β = 0.23, p < .0001). Psychological difficulties rose substantially, particularly emotional symptoms (OR = 5.16, p = .0009). Comorbidity between NSSI, DE, and psychological difficulties increased significantly among girls. In contrast, boys displayed a decline in any NSSI prevalence (OR = 0.41, p < .0001), while repetitive NSSI severity remained stable. High-risk DE and clinically relevant psychological difficulties showed minimal changes, with only modest increases in overall mental health challenges (β = 0.20, p < .0001).

These results highlight a troubling polarization in adolescent mental health, with self-destructive behaviors and psychological difficulties intensifying among girls. In contrast, while boys exhibited more stable patterns, underlying vulnerabilities in their mental health remain concerning. The study emphasizes the urgent need for collaborative efforts to effectively address the growing adolescent mental health crisis, with targeted interventions for both genders.

Adolescence, spanning ages 10 to 19, is generally characterized as a challenging period for most adolescents. During this phase, adolescents face new developmental tasks and undergo biological, cognitive, and psychological changes. From a contextual perspective, the transition to secondary school might lead to a person-environment misfit, as environments in secondary schools do not entirely fit adolescents’ needs. Developmental and contextual perspectives suggest that subjective well-being—how individuals evaluate their lives—during adolescence might decline. However, previous studies have reported inconsistent developmental patterns of subjective well-being during adolescence. Thus, our study aimed to provide a comprehensive and multidisciplinary systematic review of how subjective well-being develops during adolescence. We screened 11,751 studies in education, psychology, and health sciences databases. After reviewing titles and abstracts, we identified 361 longitudinal studies that were eligible to full-text reading and coding. In the preliminary results (i.e., 25% of coded studies), the average of sample size was N = 1,128. On average, adolescents were 13.28 years old (min = 10, max = 16.23), and the average number of measurement points was 3.18 (min = 2, max = 8). Our preliminary findings suggested that subjective well-being tended to decline regardless of types of well-being measures, though some variations in developmental patterns were observed across studies. Therefore, we concluded that subjective well-being is likely to decline during the transition from early to middle adolescence. Full results, theoretical and practical implications will be presented and discussed.