HBC201 Tutor Marked Assignment 01

This Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA01) is worth 20% of the final mark for HBC201 Research Methods for the Social and Behavioural Sciences.

Due Date: 25/08/2026 11:55pm

Submit your essay together with your cover page, in a single file (saved as MS word file), to the submission link titled TMA01.

Question 1 (100 marks)

[Word limit: 1400 words]

The lifetime prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviours has been reported to be 22.0% in a recent meta-analysis, with youth populations particularly vulnerable to the development of mental health problems and NSSI behaviours.

The consequences of NSSI behaviours have also been studied extensively— NSSI behaviours have been associated with negative outcomes including substance use disorders, anxiety, and emotion regulation difficulties. In addition, a number of factors has been found to be associated with the risk of NSSI behaviours in youth, including mental disorders, adverse childhood experiences, and bullying.

In the study by Chang et al. (2025), the researchers examined non-suicidal self-injury behaviours and their associations with mental health symptoms and other psychosocial variables such as coping strategies and resilience in Singaporean youth. The findings from the study highlight the importance of examining and addressing mental health issues in children and adolescents.

Read the following journal article for more information about the study.

Chang, S., Vaingankar, J. A., Tan, B., Tan, Y. W. B., Samari, E., Archana, S., … & Subramaniam, M. (2025). Prevalence and correlates of nonsuicidal self-injury among youths in Singapore: findings from the National Youth Mental Health Study. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 19(1), 1-13.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-025-00885-6

Analyse and critique the study in the journal article above. You are required to apply relevant concepts and information from the course materials, given journal article and additional research to answer the following questions. Please include at least 5 academic references (textbooks, journal articles, or book chapters) in your response to this TMA.

(a) In the context of the given study, explain why it is important to use social science research methods to find out more about the association between NSSI and mental health symptoms among youth, rather than non-research methods such as hearsay.

(10 marks)

(b) For each ethical principle in the Belmont Report, recognise and appreciate an ethical issue in the given study. Specifically, explain each principle in the Belmont Report and discuss what the researchers did (or could have done) in the given study to address the ethical issues that you have identified.

(30 marks)

(c) The researchers collected data from a sample of youth in Singapore and measured NSSI, mental health symptoms, and other psychosocial variables using a 1.5-2 hour selfadministered survey. The study reported that females were significantly more likely than males to report engaging in NSSI.

(i) Discuss ONE advantage and ONE limitation of the use of a self-administered survey to collect quantitative data.

(ii) Examine how the use of semi-structured interviews can help researchers to better understand the gender difference in the likelihood of engaging in NSSI behaviours amongst youth.

(30 marks)

 (d) Suppose the researchers would like to conduct a study on the effectiveness of a psychoeducational intervention in reducing NSSI behaviours.

(i) Explain why a longitudinal design would be more appropriate than a cross-sectional design for this study. Discuss ONE advantage and ONE limitation of the longitudinal study design in your answer.

(ii) Explain how the limitation may affect the validity of the study.

(30 marks)