ABSTRACT
Objective@#To explore mediation of emotional regulation in the association between aggression behavior and non-suicide self-injury among rural middle school students.@*Methods@#A multi-stage stratified random cluster sample of 14 291 middle school students from 15 cities in five provinces of China (Anhui, Yunnan, Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Hubei). A structured questionnaire was used to assess non-suicide self-injury, emotional regulation and aggressive.@*Results@#During the past year, about 28.51% of participates reported self-injury, with 13.39% of them had 5 times or more. The five dimensions of aggressive behavior were positively correlated with non-suicide self-injury(P<0.01), emotional regulation was negatively correlated with non-suicide self-injury(P<0.01). The mediating effect of emotional regulation between aggression (physical aggression, verbal aggression, indirect aggression, anger and hostility) and non-suicide self-injury was found significant, the ratio of whose were 25.93%, 22.73%, 19.61%, 27.55% and 18.80%, respectively.@*Conclusion@#Emotional regulation plays a mediating role in adolescent self-injury and aggression, indicating self-injury and aggression could be prevented by enhancing emotional regulation among adolescents.