Academic stress, self-esteem and nonsuicidal self-injury among adolescents: The moderating effect of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene rs53576 polymorphism

The literature provides empirical evidence on the association between academic stress and adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, the underlying mechanisms of this relation remain unclear, especially the role of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene in it. This study examined whether self-esteem mediates the link between academic stress and adolescent NSSI, and whether the OXTR gene rs53576 polymorphism moderates this indirect link. A total of 469 Chinese adolescents completed questionnaires that measured academic stress, self-esteem, and NSSI. Saliva samples were collected for OXTR gene rs53576 genotyping. Results showed that self-esteem mediated the positive association between academic stress and adolescent NSSI. The OXTR gene rs53576 moderated the effect of academic stress on self-esteem, in that the effect will be stronger in adolescents with GG and GA genotypes than in those with the AA genotype. And the relationship between academic stress and NSSI via self-esteem was stronger in adolescents with the GA and GG genotypes than in those with the AA genotype. These findings contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the effect of academic stress on adolescent NSSI.