Decision-making process and anticipatory competence in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injurious behavior

 
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Abstract

The literature review points to the need for a detailed study of the causes of non-suicidal self-aggression in adolescents in the context of decision-making process and prognostic competence. Objective: to study the anticipatory consistency and decision-making process under uncertainty in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injurious behavior. From April 2023 to November 2024, clinical and experimental psychological methods (semi-structured interview, Columbia Suicide Intent Scale, Iowa Gambling Task, V. D. Mendelevich Anticipatory Competence Test) were used to study individuals aged 15 to 17: 32 individuals with non-suicidal self-harm (mean age 16.2 years, 26 girls, 6 boys) and 30 conditionally healthy adolescents (mean age 16.1 years, 26 girls, 4 boys). Statistical processing was carried out using the Kolmogorov — Smirnov and Liliefors criteria, Levene’s test, Mann — Whitney U-test, two-tailed Fisher criterion. The features of anticipatory consistency, the decision-making process in conditions of uncertainty, in adolescents with non-suicidal self-damaging behavior were determined. Conclusions: the decision-making process in conditionally healthy adolescents is more effective than in their peers with non-suicidal self-damaging behavior. Adolescents with non-suicidal autoaggression are prognostically not competent in comparison with their healthy peers.

General Information

Keywords: non-suicidal self-harming behavior, decision making, anticipatory competence, adolescents

Journal rubric: Empirical and Experimental Research

Article type: scientific article

Funding. The study was carried out using funds from the Russian Science Foundation grant no. 23-25-00397, https://rscf.ru/project/23-25-00397/.

Received 19.02.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Antokhina, R.I., Vasileva, A.V., Antokhin, E.Y., Kibitov, A.A. (2025). Decision-making process and anticipatory competence in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injurious behavior. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology, 15(4), 667–683. (In Russ.). URL: https://psyjournals.ru/en/journals/vspu_psychology/archive/2025_n4/Antokhina_Vasilyeva_et_al (viewed: 03.03.2026)

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Information About the Authors

Rosalia I. Antokhina, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Orenburg State Medical University, Orenburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1761-1337, e-mail: rozaliana8@mail.ru

Anna V. Vasileva, Doctor of Medicine, Chief Researcher, Department for Non-psychotic Mental Disorders Treatment and Psychotherapy, V.M. Bekhterev National Research Medical Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, Associate Professor, Chair of Psychotherapy, Medical Psychology and Sexology, North-Western State Medical Universitynamed after I.I. Mechnikov, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5116-836X, e-mail: annavdoc@yahoo.com

Evgenii Y. Antokhin, Doctor of Medicine, associate professor, Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Orenburg State Medical University, Orenburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6835-8613, e-mail: antioh73@yandex.ru

Andrey A. Kibitov, PhD student, Laboratory of Psychopharmacology, Mental Health Research Center, Junior Researcher, Department for the Implementation of Grant Agreements, Bekhterev National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-9675, e-mail: andreykibitov18@gmail.com

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