Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Psychiatry. Sep 19, 2026; 16(9): 116145
Published online Sep 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.116145
Published online Sep 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.116145
From correlation to intervention: Translating the psychological network of adolescent non-suicidal self-injury into clinical practice
De-Lin Yu, Ling-Ying Jin, Hong Li, Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong Province, China
De-Lin Yu, Ling-Ying Jin, Hong Li, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Yu DL designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Yu DL and Jin LY contributed to the writing, and editing the manuscript, illustrations, and review of literature; Li H contributed to the discussion and design of the manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Ministry of Education Key Projects of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research, No. 21JZD063.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Hong Li, PhD, Professor, Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, No. 55 Zhong
Received: November 4, 2025
Revised: December 1, 2025
Accepted: February 2, 2026
Published online: September 19, 2026
Processing time: 293 Days and 22.1 Hours
Revised: December 1, 2025
Accepted: February 2, 2026
Published online: September 19, 2026
Processing time: 293 Days and 22.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This article comments on the critical challenge of translating findings from psychological network analysis into clinical practice. These issues include: (1) The non-equivalence of network centrality and causal influence; (2) The directional ambiguity in the network's bridge connections; and (3) The stability and replicability of estimated network structures. We contend that the most judicious application of the network approach involves the integration of its statistical findings with clinical expertise, established theoretical frameworks, and the pragmatic considerations of intervention feasibility.